The United Nations Office at Geneva
Multimedia Newsroom
STORYLINE
After a four-day-day pause in fighting between Israel and Hamas which started on Friday at 7 am local time, trucks carrying humanitarian deliveries entered the Gaza Strip through the Rafah crossing from Egypt bringing respite to the Gazans in the devastated Palestinian enclave, UN humanitarians said.
“The United Nations can confirm that, as I speak, trucks with humanitarian supplies continues to cross into Gaza through the Rafah crossing point,” said Jens Laerke, spokesperson for the UN humanitarian affairs coordination office (OCHA). “We hope the agreement between Israel and Hamas now in force will bring respite to the people of Gaza and Israel and some relief to the hostages and detainees who will be released and to their families.”
As the death toll in the enclave passed 14,800 as of Thursday evening, according to Gaza’s Government Media Office quoted by OCHA, thousands of people are estimated to be trapped under the ruins of their houses.
Mr. Laerke said that “we hope that the truce will allows grieving families to honor the dead and bury them with dignity, and we hope that this humanitarian pause leads to a longer-term humanitarian cease fire for the benefit of the people of Gaza, Israel and beyond.”
UN had repeatedly stressed that the humanitarian agencies needed access all over the Strip, including in the north, where needs were the largest. It was expected that people in need would be reached wherever they were, but it was still too early to confirm when that would be possible.
OCHA’s spokesperson reiterated the importance to get “access across the Gaza Strip, especially in the north. That's where the damage and the humanitarian needs are the greatest. So, we continue to call for access to reach all parts of Gaza.”
OCHA reported that 75,000 litres of fuel entered Gaza from Egypt on Thursday, following an Israeli decision from 18 November to “allow the daily entry of small amounts of fuel for essential humanitarian operations”. The UN Office said last week that some 200,000 litres of fuel per day were needed.
“It is very important to get fuel in, to be able to operate any machinery that will be required to get people out of the rubble”, stressed Mr. Laerke. “We see that in all kinds of situations where you have massive infrastructural damage and collapse.”
Welcoming the humanitarian pause, although more was needed, UN health agency (WHO) spokesperson Christian Lindmeier said that “we're working on further evacuations from hospitals as soon as possible.” He reminded that “on 22 November, together with the Palestine Red Crescent Society, a joint UN mission evacuated 151 patients, relatives and health workers accompanying them from our chief hospital in northern Gaza. This was undertaken specifically following requests from health authorities and hospitals and hospital officials in Gaza.”
This was the third mission to Al-Shifa carried out by WHO and partners in less than a week; the first had been an assessment mission on 18 November and the second an evacuation mission to transport 31 infants on 19 November. WHO was working on further evacuations from hospitals.
“We are extremely concerned about the safety of the estimated 100 patients and health workers remaining at al-Shifa and due to the limited time that the mission members were able to spend in the hospital and the urgency of moving the most critical, it was difficult to determine exactly how many remain”, said Mr. Lindmeier.
Out of 24 hospitals operating in the north prior to the war, 22 are either out of service or unable to admit new patients, while of the 11 medical facilities in the south, eight are functional. WHO said that of those, only one has the capacity to treat critical trauma cases or perform complex surgery.
-ends-
STORY: Gaza Start of truce WHO - OCHA 24 November 2023
TRT: 2:40”
SOURCE: UNTV CH
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
ASPECT RATIO: 16:9
DATELINE: 10 November 2023 - GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
SHOTLIST
- Exterior medium shot: UN building with UN flag, UN Geneva.
- Wide shot, press briefing room with spokesperson, journalists and screens, UN Geneva
- SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) – Jens Laerke, OCHA spokesperson: “The United Nations can confirm that, as I speak, trucks with humanitarian supplies continues to cross into Gaza through the Rafah crossing point. We hope the agreement between Israel and Hamas now in force will bring respite to the people of Gaza and Israel and some relief to the hostages and detainees who will be released and to their families. We hope it allows grieving families to honor their dead and bury them with dignity. And we hope that this humanitarian pause leads to a longer-term humanitarian cease fire for the benefit of the people of Gaza, Israel and beyond.”
- Cutaway: Wide shot, press briefing room with spokesperson, journalists and screens, UN Geneva
- SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) – Jens Laerke, OCHA spokesperson: “We need access across the Gaza Strip, especially in the north. That's where the damage and the humanitarian needs are the greatest. So, we continue to call for access to reach all parts of Gaza.”
- Cutaway: Wide shot, press briefing room with spokesperson, journalists and screens, UN Geneva
- SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) – Jens Laerke, OCHA spokesperson: “It is very important to get fuel in, to be able to operate any machinery that will be required to get people out, out of the rubble. We see that in all kinds of situations where you have massive infrastructural damage and collapse.”
- Cutaway: Wide shot, press briefing room with journalists and screens, UN Geneva
- SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) - Christian Lindmeier, spokesperson for the World Health Organization (WHO): “We're working on further evacuations from hospitals as soon as possible to remind you that on 22 November, together with the Palestine Red Crescent Society, WHO joint, a led joint UN mission, evacuate 151 patients, relatives and health workers accompanying them from Al-Shifa Hospital in northern Gaza. This was undertaken specifically following requests from health authorities and hospital officials in Gaza.”
- Cutaway: Close up, journalist listening, UN Geneva
- SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) – Christian Lindmeier, spokesperson for the World Health Organization (WHO): “We're extremely concerned about the safety of the estimated 100 patients and health workers remaining at Al-Shifa and due to the limited time that the mission members were able to spend in the hospital and the urgency of moving the most critical, it was difficult to determine exactly how many remain.”
- Cutaway: close up, technicians listening, UN Geneva
- Cutaway: wide shot, press briefing room with journalists, UN Geneva
- Cutaway: close up, journalist listening, UN Geneva
More info
Similar Stories
1
1
1
Press Conferences | BRS
2025 BRS Conventions Conference of the Parties (COPs)
1
1
1
Press Conferences | WFP , UNHCR , WHO
Rolando Gómez, Chief of the Press and External Relations Section at the United Nations Information Service (UNIS) in Geneva, chaired the hybrid briefing, which was attended by spokespersons and representatives from the World Food Programme, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and the World Health Organization.
1
1
1
Press Conferences | WFP
Alessandra Vellucci, Director of the United Nations Information Service in Geneva, chaired a hybrid press briefing, attended by the representative of the World Food Programme (WFP).
1
1
1
Press Conferences | IOM , OHCHR , UNDP , UNHCR , UNICEF , UNWOMEN
Alessandra Vellucci, Director of the United Nations Information Service in Geneva, chaired a hybrid press briefing, which was attended by the representatives and spokespersons of the United Nations Development Programme, UN Women, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the United Nations Children’s Fund, the International Organization for Migration, and the United Nations Refugee Agency.
1
1
1
Press Conferences | OCHA , OHCHR , UN WOMEN , UNHCR , UNICEF , UNWOMEN , WFP , WHO
Child rape in DRC hits historic levels amid funding crisis; Sudan conflict nears year three.
1
1
1
Press Conferences | ITC
Global trade could shrink by three per cent as a result of the United States’ new tariff measures which in the longer term could reshape and boost as-yet untapped regional commercial links, a top UN economist said on Friday.
1
1
1
Press Conferences | BRS , COPS , UNDP , UNHCR , WMO
Rolando Gómez, Chief of the Press and External Relations Section at the United Nations Information Service in Geneva, chaired a hybrid press briefing, which was attended by the representatives and spokespersons of the United Nations Development Programme, the United Nations Refugee Agency, the World Meteorological Organization, and the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions Secretariat.
1
1
1
Press Conferences | ICRC , IOM , ITC , OHCHR , UNHCR , UNMAS , WHO
Rolando Gómez, Chief of the Press and External Relations at the United Nations Information Service in Geneva, chaired a hybrid press briefing, which was attended by the spokespersons and representatives of the United Nations Mine Action Service, the International Organization for Migration, the International Trade Centre, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the United Nations Refugee Agency, the World Health Organization, and the International Committee of the Red Cross.
1
1
1
Press Conferences | IFRC , OCHA , UNCTAD , UNFPA , UNHCR , UNICEF , WHO
Alessandra Vellucci of the United Nations Information Service in Geneva, chaired the hybrid briefing, attended by spokespersons and representatives of the United Nations Office of the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the World Health Organization, the United Nations Children’s Fund, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the United Nations Populations Fund, the United Nations Special Envoy for Syria and the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent.
1
1
1
Press Conferences | OCHA , UNHCR , UNWOMEN , WHO , IFRC
Updates on Gaza, women in Gaza, health crises, and funding cuts for displaced people.
1
1
1
Press Conferences | UNCTAD , UNDP , UNICEF , UNIDIR , WHO
Alessandra Vellucci, Director of the United Nations Information Service in Geneva, chaired a hybrid press briefing, which was attended by the representatives and spokespersons of the United Nations Children’s Fund, the United Nations Development Programme, the United Nations Institute on Disarmament Research, UNICEF/Giga, and the World Health Organization.