The United Nations Office at Geneva
Multimedia Newsroom
STORYLINE
“Trauma wards resemble battlefields, we need a ceasefire now”, says WHO
Describing the disastrous situation in Gaza two months after the start of the Israeli retaliation following Hamas' 7 October terror attacks in southern Israel, the UN health agency (WHO) warned on Friday that the war-torn enclave faced a "breakdown" of society.
“People are starting to cut down telephone poles to have a little bit of firewood to still keep warm, to maybe cook if they have anything available. So we are at that level where really the civilisation is about to break down,” WHO spokesperson Christian Lindmeier told journalists in Geneva.
Intense Israeli bombardment of Gaza and fighting with Palestinian armed groups on the ground continues to hinder urgently needed aid operations.
The WHO spokesperson reported that on Friday “we had a convoy supposed to go up with medical supplies and to evacuate 12 patients from Al-Ahli [hospital] in the north to the south. That mission, we were told this morning, had to be suspended because of the security situation.” He added that WHO is trying to evacuate some patients to the United Arab Emirates.
“Health workers need to flee and take care of themselves on top of it. They don't have food. They don't have water to continue working. Patients are bleeding on the floor,” said WHO’s spokesperson. “Trauma wards resemble battlefields, literally. This must end. This callousness must end. We need a ceasefire and we need it now.”
WHO has documented 212 attacks on health care in the Gaza Strip since 7 October affecting 56 health care facilities (including 24 hospitals damaged) and 59 ambulances.
Mr. Lindmeier reported that children were "actually begging and crying for water".
"We're at that level where the most normal and basic supplies are not available anymore,” he said.
Usually “in any refugee camp situation”, he stressed, there would be a minimum of seven litres of water per day per person, while in Gaza that number is currently between one and two litres.
Currently, only 14 out of 36 hospitals in the Gaza Strip are functional and able to admit new patients, and even in these facilities services are limited. Only two of the partially functioning hospitals are in the north. The two major hospitals in southern Gaza are operating three times above their bed capacity, facing critical shortages of basic supplies and fuel.
According to the Ministry of Health in Gaza, the occupancy rates are reaching 206 per cent in inpatient departments and 250 per cent in intensive care units. Additionally, these hospitals are providing shelter to thousands of IDPs.
“The situation in Gaza is beyond belief. Literally, the health system is on its knees,” reiterated WHO’s spokesperson. “Gaza cannot afford to lose any more health facility, any more single ambulance, any more hospital. We're seeing, what we're fearing, that the south will experience the same as the north.”
According to the Ministry of Health in Gaza, between 7 October and 7 December afternoon, at least 17,177 Palestinians have been killed in the Strip, about 70 per cent of whom are said to be women and children, and 46,000 are reportedly injured. Many more are missing, presumably under the rubble, awaiting rescue or recovery.
-ends-
STORY: Update Gaza humanitarian crisis - WHO
TRT: 1:54”
SOURCE: UNTV CH
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
ASPECT RATIO: 16:9
DATELINE: 08 December 2023 - GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
SHOTLIST
- Exterior medium shot: UN building with UN flag, UN Geneva.
- Wide shot, press briefing room with moderator UN Geneva
- SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) – Christian Lindmeier, WHO spokesperson: “People are starting to cut down telephone poles to have a little bit of firewood still to keep warm, to maybe cook if they have anything available. So we are at that level where really the civilization is about to break down.”
- Cutaway: Wide shot, press briefing room with moderator, UN Geneva
- SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) – Christian Lindmeier, WHO spokesperson: “Health workers need to flee and take care of themselves on top of it. They don't have food. They don't have water to continue working. Patients are bleeding on the floor. Trauma wards resemble battlefields, literally. This must end. This callousness must end. We need a cease fire and we need it now.”
- Cutaway: Wide shot, press briefing room with journalists and screens, UN Geneva
- SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) – Christian Lindmeier, WHO spokesperson: “Children and people actually begging and crying for water. We're at that level where the most normal and basic supplies are not available anymore.”
- Cutaway: Wide shot, press briefing room with journalists, UN Geneva
- SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) - Christian Lindmeier, WHO spokesperson : “Today we had a convoy supposed to go up with medical supplies and to evacuate 12 patients from Al-Ahli in the north to the south. That mission, we were told this morning had to be suspended because of the security situation. We're trying to evacuate some patients to the UAE.”
- Cutaway: Wide shot, press briefing room with journalists and screens, UN Geneva
- SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) - Christian Lindmeier, WHO spokesperson : “The situation in Gaza is beyond belief. Literally, the health system is on its knees. Gaza cannot afford to lose any more health facility, anymore single ambulance, any more hospital. We're seeing, what we're fearing, that the South will experience the same as the North.”
- Cutaway: medium shot, screen and moderator, UN Geneva
- Cutaway: medium shot, journalist listening, UN Geneva
- Cutaway: medium shot, journalist listening, UN Geneva
Similar Stories
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
The appointment on Thursday of Karla Quintana as head of the Independent Institution on Missing Persons in the Syrian Arab Republic is a key development after nearly a year and a half of work by the UN Human Rights Office supporting the institution’s launch.
1
1
1
Edited News | IOM , UNICEF , UNRWA , WHO
The head of the UN migration agency stressed on Friday that Syria is in no position to take back millions of Syrians following the fall of the Assad regime, while there is an urgent need to “re-evaluate” sanctions impacting the war-ravaged country.
1
1
1
Edited News | IIIM , UNHCR
Syria: ‘Key priority’ is to preserve evidence of crimes – UN investigators
In Syria, new access to evidence of horrific human rights violations means that accountability may be closer than ever – if only proof can be preserved, a top UN investigator said on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OSE , ICRC , UNHCR
Syria: UN and partners urge action to preserve evidence of prison atrocities, stabilize country
Since the fall of Bashar al-Assad's regime in Syria five days ago, hundreds of people have rushed to Saydnaya prison, desperate to find loved ones. Disturbing images from the prison and other detention centers have since surfaced, exposing the “unimaginable barbarity Syrians have endured for years,” said Jenifer Fenton, spokesperson for the UN special envoy for Syria, on Friday.
1
1
2
Edited News | UNRWA
Gaza: “Sickening normalisation” of suffering, amid attacks on people and aid convoys
Ongoing military operations by the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) in Gaza continue to devastate Palestinian children and families, with mounting casualties and a critical lack of humanitarian aid for the desperate population.
“Local media reporting here that last night, 30 people were killed in this area in strikes” said a senior emergency officer with the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), Louise Wateridge, speaking to reporters in Geneva from central Gaza.
2
1
2
Press Conferences , Edited News | OHCHR
Rights experts call for end to impunity for Israel’s violations of international law
Four independent human rights experts have jointly called for the international community to sanction Israel’s conduct of hostilities in the Occupied Palestinian Territory as well as in the wider Middle East region - including in Syria, Lebanon and Iran. They also called for the restoration of trust in the international justice system through the abandonment of “extreme interpretations” and “double standards” in the application of the universal norms regulating the conduct of war.
1
1
1
Edited News | OCHA , UNHCR
Syria: needs continue to grow amid highly uncertain situation, say aid teams
The historic power shift in Syria and the still volatile situation two days after the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime have increased humanitarian needs in a country where nearly 17 million people, including millions of internally displaced, already depended on humanitarian aid before the recent events, UN aid teams said on Tuesday.
2
1
3
Edited News , Press Conferences | OSES
Barely 48 hours since opposition forces including Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) swept into Damascus and forced out President Bashar al-Assad, the top UN negotiator tasked with helping Syrians’ create a peaceful and democratic future insisted that nothing could be taken for granted.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Chief Volker Türk on Monday called on States to do all in their power to end senseless conflicts and suffering.
1
1
1
Edited News | WHO
No evacuation order given before Kamal Adwan Hospital strike, says WHO
One of the last partially functional health centres in northern Gaza was reportedly hit again overnight into Friday by several strikes, leaving four health workers among the casualties and the dead, according to the UN World Health Organization (WHO).
2
1
2
Edited News , Press Conferences | OCHA
More than 280,000 people have been uprooted in northwest Syria in a matter of days following the sudden and massive offensive into Government-controlled areas led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which is sanctioned by the Security Council as a terrorist group.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk has called on the Georgian authorities to respect and protect the rights to freedoms of expression and peaceful assembly following several nights of protests that were marred by violence, and dispersed using disproportionate, and in some cases unnecessary, force by the police in the capital, Tbilisi.