“The population has almost completely deprived about the means and capacities to ensure food security, shelter, health and livelihoods,” said Maryse Guimond, United Nations WomenSpecial Representative of the Occupied Palestinian Territory. “Women ask me, ‘When can we return to our homes?’ Each relocation brings more loss and fear.”
Dignity and privacy are gone
Speaking to journalists in Geneva via video, veteran humanitarian worker Ms. Guimond described seeing people “crammed” into makeshift shelters and lacking even the most basic necessities . At a shelter converted into a school run by the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), Have there are only 25 toilets for the 14,000 people seeking safety inside the compound and 59,000 others camping outside, she noted.
Pointing out “enormous” problems in accessing Gaza’s last functioning hospitals today, Dr. Rik Peeperkorn from the United Nations World Health Organization (WHO) reports that the region’s medical staff, obstetricians, and physicians now treat low birth weight infants at a much higher rate than before the war.
C section despair
“We see a lot of premature babies and low birth weight babies and you often see that in times of conflict, war…but we even have stories in there Women who are going to the hospital will request an early cesarean section to ensure that they give birth safely because they are completely unclear and they are afraid about access, whether they will be able to go to the hospital later, because of the unstable security situation and the constantly changing situation.”
In addition to the risks of giving birth in Gaza today for mothers and their babies in a place where there is “hardly any antenatal care,” the WHO doctor emphasized the “shocking” number “surprise” of trauma cases, amputees and patients with chronic diseases People need to be urgently evacuated from the area for treatment.
Medivac Appeal
Since war broke out on October 7 following Hamas-led terrorist attacks in Israel, some 4,800 patients have been evacuated from Gaza for reasons of medical necessity, most to Ai Egypt and other places in the region.
But “at least another 10,000 patients” now need specialist treatment outside the region, Dr Peeperkorn said – “half of them war-related and half of them related to chronic diseases : … cancer, cardiovascular disease and other diseases.” non-communicable diseases, including serious mental health cases”.
Before the war, some 50 to 100 medical evacuations regularly took place from Gaza to hospitals in the West Bank, the WHO official explained, as he called for the reopening of the Rafah border crossing in the south of the enclave. or ask for nearby Kerem Shalom to be used instead.
The UN health agency also rejected claims by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) that the recently announced pause in fighting had led to an improvement in the humanitarian situation.
“And the reason is that this humanitarian pause is not reflected in reality; There has not been a single day that we can say that we will take advantage of this humanitarian pause… to bring from Kerem Shalom,” said Dr. Thanos Gargavanis, WHO trauma surgeon and paramedic. Supplies are waiting for us.”
United Nations Office for the Coordination of Aid, OCHAechoed those concerns and emphasized Israel’s responsibility under international humanitarian law as the occupying power to ensure that relief supplies including fuel reach those who need it most, including addressing the “complete destruction of law and order” as well as reports of looting.
Spokesperson Jens Laerke said: “We of course welcome any initiative to facilitate the delivery of aid and we have reached an understanding with COGAT on the movements coordinate to create conditions for safe humanitarian aid transportation activities.”
“In fact, as we heard from the ground, there was very little information. Fighting in the area may have decreased thanks to those coordinated movements but that is not the only obstacle for our colleagues in receiving aid in the area between Kerem Shalom and Salah Al Din road.”
Segment benefits
Echoing those concerns, WHO’s Dr. Gargavanis said that the impact of the closure of the Rafah crossing, the increase in fighting and the continued forced displacement of Gazans means what is achieved in Gaza “ just a small part of what we should be doing.”
He added: “I know that we are saying this over and over again. However, people need to understand that for every international (worker) currently coming to the Gaza Strip, the process is long, risky and requires a large amount of resources.”
“Right now, through Kerem Shalom, we have to lead ourselves, we have to drive our own armored vehicles to ensure that the international community continues to go in and out of the Gaza Strip. This is just one of the main problems we are facing.”
