Continuity: WHO Press Conference: Gaza Health Update - 21 December 2023
/
1:17:24
/
MP4
/
352.8 MB

Press Conferences , Edited News | WHO

WHO Press Conference: Update on health situation in Gaza - 21 December 2023

Injured patients ‘waiting to die’ in northern Gaza as last hospital shuts down: WHO

There are no functioning hospitals in the north of Gaza and injured patients who need surgery and cannot be moved are “waiting to die”, the UN health agency said on Thursday, in a plea for a ceasefire to allow more aid into the shattered enclave.

The latest grave assessment from the World Health Organization (WHO) came after UN teams reached Al Ahli Arab hospital and Al Shifa hospital on Wednesday, amid reports of intensifying ground operations by Israeli Defense Forces and continuing airstrikes in the Gaza Strip, in response to Hamas’s 7 October terror attacks on southern Israel.

“Patients were crying out in pain, but they were also crying out for us to give them water,” said WHO Emergency Medical Teams coordinator Sean Casey, describing the scene at Al Ahli Arab hospital, where medical staff were struggling to cope with “no food, no fuel, no water”.

“It looks more like a hospice now than a hospital. But a hospice implies a level of care that the doctors and nurses are unable to provide…. It's pretty unbearable to see somebody with casts on multiple limbs, external fixator on multiple limbs, without drinking water and almost no IV fluids available.

“At the moment, it's a place where people are waiting to die unless we are able to move them to a safer location where they can receive care.”

Guterres aid call

Highlighting the need to relieve the deteriorating humanitarian crisis in Gaza, UN Secretary-General António Guterres on Thursday said that “intense fighting, lack of electricity, limited fuel and disrupted telecommunications” had severely restricted the UN’s efforts to provide life-saving aid to people in the enclave.

“Conditions to allow for large-scale humanitarian operations need to be re-established immediately,” the UN chief insisted in a tweet.

Growing hunger

The high-risk mission to northern Gaza involving the WHO, the UN aid coordination office, OCHA, the UN Mine Action Service (UNMAS) and the UN Department of Safety and Security (UNDSS) ensured the delivery of seven pallets of urgently needed medicines, intravenous fluids and supplies for surgery and to treat the wounded, along with equipment to support women giving birth.

Important though the delivery of medical supplies to the north is to provide some relief to patients, much more worrying is the growing and already widespread shortage of food and water.

“We are behind. There is not enough food, every single person I speak to everywhere I go in Gaza is hungry,” Mr. Casey said, speaking to journalists in Geneva. “The time is now. We are dealing with starving people now, adults, children, it's unbearable. Everywhere we go, people are asking us for food even in the hospital, I walked around in the emergency department, somebody with an open bleeding wound, an open fracture; they asked for food. If that's not an indicator of the desperation, I don't know what is.”

Crippling shortages

According to the UN health agency, only nine out of 36 health facilities in Gaza are partially functional; all of them are located in the south.

“There are no operating theatres (in the north) anymore due to the lack of fuel, power, medical supplies and health workers, including surgeons and other specialists,” said Dr Richard Peeperkorn, WHO Representative and now acting UN humanitarian coordinator in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, speaking from Jerusalem.

At Al Ahli Arab hospital approximately 10 staff – “all junior doctors and nurses” – have continued to provide basic first aid to some 80 patients now sheltering in a church within the hospital grounds, Dr. Peeperkorn explained. “Some of them are severely injured and have been waiting for surgery for two weeks or have been operated on but are now at risk of post-operation infection due to lack of antibiotics and other drugs. All these patients cannot move and need to be transferred urgently, to have a chance to survive.”

Heavy bombing and clashes

According to the UN aid office OCHA’s latest update on the crisis, “heavy Israeli bombardments from air, land and sea”, continued across Gaza on Wednesday.

The most intense shelling was reported in Beit Lahiya and multiple areas in Gaza city (north), eastern Khan Younis in the south and the eastern and western areas of Rafah city, also in the south.

OCHA also reported “intense ground operations” and continuing clashes between Israeli forces and Palestinian armed groups in northern Gaza, Gaza City, the Middle Area, and Khan Younis, along with the firing of rockets by Palestinian armed groups into Israel.

Latest casualty figures from Gaza’s health authorities from Tuesday shared by OCHA indicated that 19,667 Palestinians have killed in Gaza since 7 October, about 70 per cent are believed to be women and children. More than 52,586 people have been injured, according to the same source, which reported that many more were missing, likely buried under the rubble.

The UN update also noted that two Israeli soldiers were reported killed in Gaza between 19 and 20 December. “Since the start of the ground operations, 134 soldiers have been killed in Gaza, and 740 soldiers have been injured, according to the Israeli military,” OCHA said.

New evacuation order

The update also flagged a 20 December immediate evacuation order from the Israeli military covering about 20 per cent of central and south of Khan Younis city. The area was marked in an online map published on social media. Before the 7 October escalation, the area was home to nearly 111,542 people, according to OCHA, which noted that it also included 32 shelters housing about 141,451 internally displaced persons - the vast majority having been previously displaced from the north.

STORY: Gaza healthcare update – WHO

TRT: 3:09”
SOURCE: UNTV CH
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
ASPECT RATIO: 16:9
DATELINE: 21 December 2023 - GENEVA, SWITZERLAND

SHOTLIST

  1. Exterior wide shot: UN building with UN flag, UN Geneva.
  2. SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) – Sean Casey, WHO Emergency Medical Teams coordinator: “It's pretty unbearable to see people who are already victims of conflicts who are in what should be a safe place where they should be able to access care, where they're sitting, waiting to die unless something dramatically changes that will allow them to survive. And that required safe movement, it requires a huge uplift of fuel, it requires medicine, medical supplies, human resources. They're starving. They're dying of thirst.”
  3. Cutaway: Medium shot, UN building with UN flag
  4. SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) – Sean Casey, WHO Emergency Medical Teams coordinator: “Patients were crying out in pain, but they were also crying out for us to give them water. It's pretty unbearable to see somebody with casts on multiple limbs, external fixator on multiple limbs, without drinking water and almost no IV fluids available.”
  5. Cutaway: Medium shot UN entrance at Place des Nations
  6. SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) – Dr. Richard Peeperkorn, WHO Representative in the Occupied Palestinian Territory: “Over 20,000 people now have been killed in the hostilities in Gaza. This is actually almost one per cent of the entire population. WHO calls again for a humanitarian ceasefire. This is needed now to reinforce and restock remaining health facilities, deliver medical services needed by thousands of injured people and those needing essential care, and above all, stop the bloodshed and death.”
  7. Cutaway: Wide shot, Ariana Park at UN Geneva
  8. SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) - Sean Casey, WHO Emergency Medical Teams coordinator: “We went through the courtyard where we stepped over a hole from shelling that had happened just a couple of days before, passed a row of bodies that had been wrapped in white, in plastic sheeting,”
  9. Cutaway: Wide shot, UN flag with ICRC building in background
  10. SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) – Sean Casey, WHO Emergency Medical Teams coordinator: “What would be considered unnecessary amputations in the rest of the world where there is capability to save limbs, where there's orthopedic capability, where there is vascular capability, that's not there. There's no surgery happening right now in northern Gaza. And so actually, many of the patients that I saw yesterday will need amputation if and when they're able to access surgical care.”
  11. Cutaway: Wide shot, UN building
  12. SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) – Sean Casey, WHO Emergency Medical Teams coordinator: “It's too late. We’re behind. There is not enough food. Every single person I speak to, everywhere I go in Gaza, is hungry. The time is now. We are dealing with starving people now, adults, children. It's unbearable. Everywhere we go, people are asking even in the hospital, I walk around in the emergency department, somebody with an open bleeding wound, with an open fracture, they ask for food.”
  13. Cutaway: Wide shot, UN flag alley


Documents 1
Download Storyline
Download

Audio Files 2
Download WHO Press Conference: Gaza Health Update - 21 December 2023 (Continuity)
Download
Download Edited story: Gaza Healthcare update WHO (Edited Story)
Download

Similar Stories

OHCHR Press conference: UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk in Bangladesh - 30 October 2024

2

1

3

Press Conferences | OHCHR

OHCHR Press conference: UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk in Bangladesh - 30 October 2024 ENG FRA

UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk visits Bangladesh, meets officials and civil society.

Escalating violence in Sudan’s Al-Jazirah State - OHCHR

1

1

1

Edited News | OHCHR

Escalating violence in Sudan’s Al-Jazirah State - OHCHR ENG FRA

Escalating violence in Sudan’s Al-Jazirah State adds to the dire displacement crisis in the country

UNCTAD Press conference 29 October 2024

2

1

2

Press Conferences , Edited News | UNCTAD

UNCTAD Press conference 29 October 2024 ENG FRA

Publication of the Trade and Development Report 2024: Rethinking Development in the Age of Discontent 

Knesset UNRWA vote – UN reaction IOM – OCHA – UNICEF – WHO – OHCHR

1

1

1

Edited News | IOM , OCHA , UNICEF , WHO , OHCHR

Knesset UNRWA vote – UN reaction IOM – OCHA – UNICEF – WHO – OHCHR ENG FRA

‘If UNRWA can’t operate, humanitarian system in Gaza will collapse’ – UN

The UN humanitarian and human rights community reacted forcefully on Tuesday to the vote by the Israeli Knesset banning the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), warning of the devastating impact on millions of Palestinians who depend on it.

UN Geneva Press Briefing - 29 October 2024

1

1

1

Press Conferences | FAO , OCHA , OHCHR , UNICEF , WHO

UN Geneva Press Briefing - 29 October 2024 ENG FRA

Rolando Gómez, Chief of the Press and External Relations Section at the United Nations Information Service in Geneva, chaired a hybrid briefing, which was attended by the Director-General of the International Organization for Migration, and the representatives and spokespersons of the World Health Organization, the Food and Agriculture Organization, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the United Nations Children’s Fund, and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.

IOM - Press Briefing: Amy Pope, IOM Director General

1

1

1

Press Conferences | IOM

IOM - Press Briefing: Amy Pope, IOM Director General ENG FRA

Amy Pope, IOM Director General, will brief the Geneva press corps (From Port Sudan)

WMO Press conference 28 October 2024

2

1

2

Press Conferences , Edited News | WMO

WMO Press conference 28 October 2024 ENG FRA

New data released by the UN on Monday indicating that greenhouse gases have hit a record high shows once again that urgent action and not words is needed from the world’s major polluters to protect us all from climate change, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) insisted.

Middle East update WHO – UNICEF – UNHCR  25 October 2024

1

1

1

Edited News | WHO , UNICEF , UNHCR

Middle East update WHO – UNICEF – UNHCR 25 October 2024 ENG FRA

Gaza’s sick and injured face new attacks on health care, lethal evacuation delays – UN humanitarians

Amid reports of a new Israeli military raid on a Gaza hospital on Friday morning - and ongoing hostilities hindering polio vaccination in the north of the Strip - UN humanitarians pleaded again for the protection of health facilities and urgent medical evacuation of critically ill patients.

UN Geneva Press Briefing - 25 October 2024

1

1

1

Press Conferences | ILO , WMO , UNHCR , WHO , UNICEF

UN Geneva Press Briefing - 25 October 2024 ENG FRA

Alessandra Vellucci, Director of the United Nations Information Service (UNIS) in Geneva, chaired the hybrid briefing, which was attended by spokespersons and representatives from the International Labour Organization, World Health Organization, World Meteorological Organization, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and United Nations Children's Fund.

UNCTAD Press conference - 22 October 2024

2

1

2

Press Conferences | UNCTAD

UNCTAD Press conference - 22 October 2024 ENG FRA

Presentation of the Review of Maritime Transport 2024: Navigating maritime chokepoints  

Ukraine's demographic crisis UNFPA - 22 October 2024

1

1

1

Edited News | UNFPA

Ukraine's demographic crisis UNFPA - 22 October 2024 ENG FRA

Ukraine's birthrate plummets amid war, prompting a new demographic strategy.

UN Geneva Press Briefing - 22 October 2024

1

1

1

Press Conferences | IFRC , UNDP , UNEP , UNFPA , WHO

UN Geneva Press Briefing - 22 October 2024 ENG FRA

Rolando Gómez, Chief of the Press and External Relations Section at the United Nations Information Service in Geneva, chaired a hybrid briefing, which was attended by the spokespersons and representatives of the United Nations Development Programme, the World Health Organization, the United Nations Environment Programme, World Meteorological Organization, the United Nations Population Fund, and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.