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HRC Press Conference: Special Rapporteur on the Right to Health on health situation in Gaza - 22 April 2024
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Press Conferences , Edited News | HRC
HRC Press Conference: Special Rapporteur on the Right to Health on health situation in Gaza - 22 April 2024
STORY: UN Special Rapporteur on Health – Gaza
TRT: 3:29”
SOURCE: UNTV CH
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
ASPECT RATIO: 16:9
DATELINE: 22 April 2024 GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
- Exterior med shot: UN flag alley
- Wide shot: speakers at the podium during press conference with journalists in press room
- SOUNDBITE (English) – Tlaleng Mofokeng, UN Special Rapporteur on the right to health: “As a practicing medical doctor, I know that the long-term trauma that the people of Gaza, its children, will carry with them because of enduring intergenerational physical and mental health, health impacts of racism, structural discrimination, violence and imperialism.”
- Med shot: Speaker at the podium
- SOUNDBITE (English) – Tlaleng Mofokeng, UN Special Rapporteur on the right to health: “Just days into the war on Gaza, the medical infrastructure was irreparably damaged, health care providers were working on a dire situation with limited access to medical supplies under conditions that did not allow them to provide timely and quality health care. They themselves, as healthcare workers under bombardment in the enclave. I bear witness is the very practice of medicine is under attack, and this has been a war on the right to health from the beginning, as well as underlying determinants of health.”
- Med shot: Technical staff working behind the window with photographer in front taking pictures of the briefing
- SOUNDBITE (English) – Tlaleng Mofokeng, UN Special Rapporteur on the right to health: “The health system in Gaza has been completely obliterated and the right to health has been decimated at every level. The conditions are incompatible with the realization of everyone to the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health. The attacks, the harassment, the killings of many of my own colleagues, the health care workers, the destructions of health facilities, and the destruction of humanitarian aid organizations continue to catapult to proportions yet to be fully quantified if at all possible.”
- Wide shot: Speakers at the podium
- SOUNDBITE (English) – Tlaleng Mofokeng, UN Special Rapporteur on the right to health: “Not only is Israel killing and causing irreparable harm against Palestinian civilians with its bombardments and their allies, they are also knowingly and intentionally imposing famine, prolonged malnutrition and dehydration. I remain concerned at the ongoing risks of water and air borne diseases, lack of medical and surgical supplies and commodities, and the lack of sexual and productive health and mental services.”
- Med shot: Journalists in press room
- SOUNDBITE (English) - Tlaleng Mofokeng, UN Special Rapporteur on the right to health: “The right to health has been in the spotlight, from my perspective, in a way that we've never seen before in the times of a crisis, in a conflict in that those protected sites under international human rights law and international humanitarian law have been bombed and attacked, and Israel has failed, firstly as an occupying power, but also as a member of the UN to uphold those rights and meet the obligations.”
- Wide shot: journalists listening
- SOUNDBITE (English) - Tlaleng Mofokeng, UN Special Rapporteur on the right to health: “Imagine living under the constant anticipation of a bomb, of a gun or being shot while you're trying to get food or water or play, that is in itself a form of violence to anticipate that your life could be distinguished in any moment. And for children to grow up with that level of trauma is not normal. But for decades, that has been normalized for the people of occupied Palestinian territory. And I'm saying that October 7th is an episode amongst the many in which the world leaders have let the people down.”
- Wide shot, panelists at the podium with journalists in press room
- Wide shot, panelists at the podium with journalists in press room
- Wide shot, panelists at the podium with journalists in press room
“A war on the right to health” – UN expert raised concern about Gazans mental health due to conflict
A UN expert on health cautioned on Monday (22 Apr) that the ongoing conflict in Gaza could potentially lead to the emergence of mental health issues among its residents in the years to come.
Speaking to journalists at the United Nations in Geneva, UN Special Rapporteur on the right to health, Dr. Tlaleng Mofokeng, said that “as a practicing medical doctor, I know that the long-term trauma that the people of Gaza, its children, will carry with them because of enduring intergenerational physical and mental health, health impacts of racism, structural discrimination, violence and imperialism.”
According to the latest figures by the UN Office for Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), which quotes the Ministry of health in Gaza, between 7 October 2023 and 19 April 2024, at least 34,012 Palestinians were killed in Gaza and 76,833 Palestinians were injured.
Israel began its assault after Hamas fighters attacked Israel on Oct. 7, killing some 1,200 people and abducting another 253 to Gaza, according to Israeli tallies.
“The right to health has been in the spotlight, from my perspective, in a way that we've never seen before in the times of a crisis, in a conflict in that those protected sites under international human rights law and international humanitarian law have been bombed and attacked, and Israel has failed, firstly as an occupying power, but also as a member of the UN to uphold those rights and meet the obligations,” said Dr. Mofokeng.
Numerous hospitals in the Gaza Strip, including Al Shifa Hospital, which was the largest in the area prior to the conflict, have been severely damaged or destroyed as a result of the Israeli military campaign, said the World Health Organization (WHO).
For Dr. Mofokeng “the health system in Gaza has been completely obliterated and the right to health has been decimated at every level. The conditions are incompatible with the realization of everyone to the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health.”
Health workers have also been among the casualties. Israel accuses Hamas of frequently utilizes hospitals, ambulances, and other medical facilities for military operations. “The attacks, the harassment, the killings of many of my own colleagues, the health care workers, the destructions of health facilities, and the destruction of humanitarian aid organizations continue to catapult to proportions yet to be fully quantified, if at all possible,” stressed Dr. Mofokeng.
According to WHO, there have so far been at least 435 attacks on health facilities or personnel across Gaza in six months of conflict between 7 October 2023 and early April 2024 – equivalent to 73 attacks per month of war. This number, so WHO, exceeds the number of attacks per month in all other war-torn countries since 2018, including Ukraine who have the second highest number at 67 attacks per month, and the Democratic Republic of Congo with an average of 11 attacks per month.
“Just days into the war on Gaza, the medical infrastructure was irreparably damaged, health care providers were working on a dire situation with limited access to medical supplies under conditions that did not allow them to provide timely and quality health care,” reported Dr. Mofokeng. “They themselves, as healthcare workers under bombardment in the enclave. I bear witness is the very practice of medicine is under attack, and this has been a war on the right to health from the beginning, as well as underlying determinants of health.”
In its latest update, OCHA informed that every ten minutes, one child is killed or injured in Gaza, quoting the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) which based that information on figures by the Ministry of Health, stressing the urgent need to increase medical evacuations of children.
“Imagine living under the constant anticipation of a bomb, of a gun or being shot while you're trying to get food or water or play, that is in itself a form of violence to anticipate that your life could be distinguished in any moment,” said Dr. Mofokeng. “For children to grow up with that level of trauma is not normal. But for decades, that has been normalized for the people of occupied Palestinian territory and I'm saying that October 7th is an episode amongst the many in which the world leaders have let the people down.”
In February, UNICEF reported an estimate of 17,000 children in Gaza who were either unaccompanied or had become separated from their families due to the conflict. Additionally, UNICEF informed that nearly all children in the region were believed to be in need of mental health assistance, more than one million children. Before the conflict erupted, UNICEF estimated that more than 500,000 children in the Gaza strip required mental health and psycho-social support.
“Not only is Israel killing and causing irreparable harm against Palestinian civilians with its bombardments and their allies, they are also knowingly and intentionally imposing famine, prolonged malnutrition and dehydration”, Dr. Mofokeng said. “I remain concerned at the ongoing risks of water and air borne diseases, lack of medical and surgical supplies and commodities, and the lack of sexual and productive health and mental services.”
-ends-
Teleprompter
Good afternoon, everyone.
And thank you for joining us at this press conference
by the special rapporteur on the right to Health Doctor Tang
Mou
King.
The special rapporteur will be briefing you today on the health situation in Gaza.
She will begin with a brief opening statement
and then we will move on to your questions. And with that I hand over to the special.
My name is Doctor Tlale
Mofokeng
and I welcome this opportunity to speak here today
in my capacity as the UN Special rapporteur on the right to health.
We have watched the horror of a genocide unfold over the last month, representing
yet another many episodes of a display of a recalcitrant attitude
of an occupying regime and its allies.
And on the other hand,
an indomitable commitment to the right of people to exist.
The right to health and the autonomy of the Palestinian people
are missed This in real time ongoing corrus and violence.
The timeline of the creation, occupation, siege
and annihilation of the Gaza Strip was already horrific before October 7th 2023
The Gaza slip is not a natural geographic unit. It
is the hallmark of the engineering of apartheid,
which is inherently violent and enables the genocide we witness today.
Gaza became the laboratory for surveillance, weapons and population control.
For decades,
the Gazan population have not enjoyed a day of peace and justice since 1948.
The power dynamics at play are not exceptional to Palestine.
They are recognisable the world over
as colonial and imperial manifestation
of what happens when the dehumanisation of entire populations is allowed to happen
without any respect of an international human rights law.
And happens with impunity
when human rights are treated
like an a la carte menu by member states
and not what they truly are, which is indivisible, foundational
and unconditional
and the absolute language of obligations and accountability.
The occupied Palestinian territory
has been under military occupation for more than 56 years,
an occupation entailing the creation of a humanitarian crisis lasting decades.
Therefore,
more humanitarian only framing of what Gaza needs
and its future is surely wholly insufficient,
especially during a genocide.
There is no Gaza to go back to.
We must understand
that the urgency was already existing before October 7th, 2023
as a South African,
a child survivor, myself
of a brutal colonial and apartheid regime
and now an adult with a mandate of the UN special rapporteur on the right to health.
I know that
like my life,
the future of Gaza and the Palestinian peoples
and the future of people everywhere
cannot depend upon a series, a series of perfectly aligned miracles.
The right to health
is an inclusive right
and is a compass for us all.
As a practising medical doctor,
I know the long the long term trauma that the people of Gaza
its Children will carry with them
because of enduring intergenerational physical and mental health,
impacts of racism, structural discrimination, violence and imperialism.
The ongoing escalation and displays of aggression by Israel
in many forms as an occupying power represents continuous crushing moments
of ongoing corrus and gross structural systemic and sustained violence.
Just days into the war on Gaza,
the medical infrastructure was irreparably damaged.
Health care providers were working on a dire situation,
with limited access to medical supplies
under conditions that did not allow them to provide timely and quality health care.
They themselves as healthcare workers under bombardment in the enclave.
I bear witness is the very practise of medicine is under attack
and this has been a war on the right to health
from the beginning as well as underlying determinants of health.
The health system in Gaza has been completely
obliterated
and the right to health has been decimated at every level.
The conditions are incompatible with the realisation
of everyone to the highest attainable standard of physical
and mental health.
The attacks, the harassment,
the killings of many of my own colleagues,
the health care workers,
the destructions of health facilities
and the destruction of humanitarian aid
organisations continue to catapult to proportions
yet to be fully quantified, if at all possible.
Not only is Israel killing and
causing irreparable harm against Palestinian civilians
with its bombardments
and their allies, they are also knowingly and intentionally imposing famine,
prolonged malnutrition
and dehydration.
I remain concerned at the ongoing risks of water and airborne diseases,
lack of medical and surgical supplies and commodities,
and the lack of sexual and productive health and mental services.
The many, many complex injuries and resulting disabilities and complications
created as a result of the type of military
arsenal used puts disability rights also into focus.
The number of widespread violations of
the special protection afforded to civilians,
including the horror that Children are specifically subjected and exposed to
and violations related to lack of protection
of medical personnel under international human rights law
and international human rights
law have been humanitarian law has been immeasurable.
The International Court of Justice found it plausible that Israel's
acts could amount to a genocide and issued six provisional measures
ordering Israel to take all measures within its power to prevent genocidal acts.
And I speak to you today
that even those have been ignored.
Despite international calls and demands for an immediate ceasefire,
the shame of the shameful war continues,
and Israel's allies continue with the despicable acts
of international cooperations in ways we've never seen before
and supporting to occupying a regime with billions of dollars in aid,
weapons, political power
and cover from accountability
to continue its destruction
as an occupying power to enact a genocide documented
in real time
by its victims.
Leaders within the multinational system, regional blocks, academia,
civil society, philanthropists
and leaders in global health must abandon their strategy of a self
imposed passiveness
and the so called quiet diplomacy.
People are dying.
I call on you yet again to use all powers and authority vested in you
to not perpetuate the pacification
and the genocide of the people of Gaza.
In an urgent appeal I made to the Israel government dated 4th December 2023
I continue today to appeal to them for immediately to cease fire
and to adhere to all the laws, norms and standards
enshrined within international human rights law
and international humanitarian law
and obligations under the right to health.
All immediate and future interventions aimed at peace, mediation
and lasting solutions to peace,
must centre the restoration of dignity of the people of Palestine
and immediately
deep, analyse
and go into recovery and rebuilding and resourcing of
a health system to be able to provide accessible,
acceptable, affordable and quality care.
In the context of the prevailing violence,
the right to health is rendered unattainable.
All the United Nations member states
must also adhere to their obligations
to prevent a genocide
and also to prevent the right to health violations
and ensure redress.
Reparative justice will require a profoundly different approach and solidarity,
as well as a calibre of world leaders who, unfortunately up to now
continue to display their moral, political
and diplomatic bankruptcy
and they must carry this genocide with shame
to all the oppressed people everywhere in the world.
Exploited, humiliated, brutalised
and colonised,
I fulfil my mandate on the right to health viscerally away
and understanding the compound crushing weight of the
structural nature of the issues that you face.
I share in the rage and in the fury of so many people around the world.
I am ashamed
and deeply sorry
that the world has failed you.
I hope that one day
we will share different collective connection as humanity
and a future that isn't based on the experiences of colonial imperialist trauma
of what it has taken from us
and our peoples, our lands
and our collective future.
Through my mandate of the right to health. As the UN special rapporteur,
I will continue to use the tools and methods of work available to me.
I continue to be unreasonably hopeful
that the realisation of the right of everyone to the highest attainable standard
can be promoted,
fulfilled and respected.
I remain in unwavering solidarity
with all health care workers
and aid care workers in Gaza and all the areas of the world that experience conflict
and protracted war.
The oath takers,
the ones who stay and continue to stay.
Knowing that death awaits them,
justice will prevail
and you will return to build your beloved Gaza,
albeit through glistening eyes and your burning flesh and amputations,
thirst and starvation.
We bear witness to your collective, indestructible human spirit.
However,
you did not have to experience all of this for us to see what resilience looks like.
The human desire for freedom can never
be extinguished
To the Children of Gaza.
It is my hope that one day
we can be worthy to speak your names.
The matters of Gaza scattered across the strip
with faith
like a mustard seed.
I keep the demand.
Let it cease.
Let it cease.
Let it cease
the right to health at all levels clinical care, health systems
and underlying determinants of health
demand conditions conducive for the equal opportunity for its realisation
and for a life of dignity.
Peace
follows liberation
cease fire. Now
I thank you.
Thank you, Doctor Feng, for those, uh, remarks.
And, uh, we'll move on to questions now, uh, start with questions from the room and,
uh, just state your name and organisation before you ask the question.
Thank you.
Thank you very much. Um, Nina Larson from a FP.
I was when you mentioned that this has been you said
this has been a war on health from the beginning.
Um, if you could,
uh, say sort of in a bit more in detail what you're talking about there. And also,
um, if you could say a little bit about the hospitals,
I know that over the weekend in Nasser Hospital, they say they found 50 bodies.
Um, Shifa Hospital, uh, WHO.
Described a few weeks ago as an empty shell filled with bodies.
Um, if you have any details on, um,
on that if you I don't know if you have
any insight into what's been found in these hospitals,
that would be helpful.
Thank you.
The special repetity take a few questions. And then maybe yes,
Thank you for this briefing. The first one is not really a question. Just can you send
the notes that your statement I mean your opening remarks to journalists?
Because there is a lot of interesting things,
and my second question is more concrete.
You spoke about the genocide about three times in your opening remarks.
Can you today say that what you see in Gaza as a special reporter is a genocide
ongoing? Thank you.
Thank you very much.
So the first question, I think is important because as part of the
mandated work of being a special repertoire is to engage with member states
outside of our annual reports.
And I do that as well,
based on reports that I get of either allegations of
future rights violations or ongoing rights violations or historic.
And so since I took over my mandate in August 2020
I have been engaging with the Israeli government on various interventions
trying
to appeal to them.
For example, allow Children and adults with specialised medical needs,
for example, for oncology
to leave this group to get better health.
The other interventions, of course, have included in the past, um, this letter
that I had written to them in December detailing already
the kinds of reports we were receiving on the ground through
various UN agencies on the kinds of distractions that were happening,
um, specifically around clinics and
hospitals.
But what was also very interesting at the time when the
journalists were being killed and we'd see those numbers rising.
We're having at the same time the number of doctors,
ambulances and other allied and aid workers also being killed.
And so the immediacy of my concern around the right to health
was because of those early reports that were coming that, in fact,
ambulances were also being barred from entering particular,
um neighbourhoods to try and assist people who needed care.
And as we know, the right to health is not just about facilities and hospitals.
It's also about the underlying determinants of health and so access to
nutritious food.
Access to water access to quality medicines has been of concern before October 7th,
and so this particular episode
is actually magnifying and worsening what was already a humanitarian crisis.
We also need to remember that Gaza was already receiving enormous amounts
in humanitarian aid in refugee camps. Um, the largest open air
prison has been declared, and we've heard about it being called as such.
And so the medical concerns have been, you know, at least for myself,
at least from Octo August 2020.
But the mandate has dealt with various accounts and dealt
with the member state directly on those in terms of?
Is this a genocide? Yes. This is a genocide that we are witnessing in Gaza. Thank you.
It's
it.
Reuters news agency. Gabrielle Tetro
Farber. Um,
just a question about medical evacuations from Gaza that you mentioned. Um,
have you seen any evidence of, um,
factors such as
people taking advantage of the situation to make money off the
medical evacuation business from Gaza? Is that something that you
have seen? Um, in your mandate.
And what factors have influenced those who
are selected or eligible for such evacuations?
Thank you.
So the mandate has previously been involved, and this is before October 7th, um,
with, uh,
making a case right based on international human rights and the right to health.
Why certain Children, for example, should be granted, um, the pass to leave Gaza,
but also why they should be accompanied by their parent.
In many instances,
there has been this separation of Children from their
parents or caregivers when the Children need help themselves.
The issue of, um, money making, I'm not sure about, you know where that comes from,
but I do know that since October the seventh,
there's been a lot of civilians and global solidarity
directly and specifically raising money to help
people with medical needs with securing food,
menstrual health and hygiene products.
We know that women have been giving birth in Gaza.
Um, you know, the most reported has been, you know,
Caesarean sections being done without anaesthesia.
But there has been a lot more, um,
global solidarity after that event of October the seventh.
And I can speak to that, um that, you know,
the the the the solidarity has been people raising
money
through organisations as well and through the UN agencies as well.
Um and that's why when the UN mandate itself is being
limited and threatened in the way that UN R was,
it's a huge concern because if the UN and its own agencies are unable
to afford and give support to people
experiencing this level of violence and trauma,
um, you know, then who can go in there?
And so I think for me, that's what's really important is to continue to demand
that member states support the mandate of the UN
and its agencies on the ground in Gaza,
because again we need information, we need timeous information,
and it's through those agencies and the work of colleagues on the ground
that we can actually get it.
And I mean,
one of the first casualties in this war outside of
health care workers was the killing of our own colleagues
at UN
R.
So we know the D
a
that happened to UN R as well.
All of those conditions create people to become opportunistic.
And although I cannot speak, I do not know the facts of, you know, money making.
But the conditions created in terms of the border controls have absolutely
one can imagine create those opportunities.
Um, you know, that are unsustainable, but also incredibly unfair on people as well.
Nina.
Yes. Sorry. I just wanted to follow up, uh, on the question I had on the hospitals.
I don't know if you have any details on
what's going on. What's been happening inside the hospitals
Shifa and Nasser particularly where there's been talk about, uh,
a number of dead bodies that have been found there when
WHO teams, uh, reach.
And also, uh, I just had a question about your you spoke about, um, about your, uh,
interactions with the Israelis since you took over your your mandate.
Um, what
What kind of response are you receiving?
And have you had a chance, um, to visit, or are they,
uh are they in contact with you now?
Thank you.
So the member state is, um, overall, um, unresponsive.
I'm still waiting for an engagement on that urgent appeal that I made.
I have not visited Israel or, um, the occupied Palestinian territory
in terms of the follow up of the health facilities. Um, we know that
with the 1.7 million people who are internally displaced,
that does put pressure on the very few facilities that are already existing.
And we know that at the moment, um,
we have WHO on the on the ground giving us statistics,
in terms of fully functional hospitals,
you know, they were speaking of
many field hospitals that they had to set up in
response to the destruction of the hospitals that existed,
we know with
Alfa.
Um, that massacre that happened that was also grossly under
reported
as the world media, of course, has many demands on on on breaking news
that even till this morning as we sit here today, there are many bodies under rubble.
Um, that are still being found, many people who could have perhaps been saved
a first aid and ambulances were able to reach them.
The other important element is that when we are counting, the number of people died.
We also need to remember that they are already
decomposing bodies of people killed already from October,
which there has not been an organised way of retrieving those bodies,
or at least even dealing with the amount of destruction that has happened.
So on the one hand, we know that
the healthcare facilities are completely dysfunctional.
Those that are functional
don't necessarily have all of the equipment and the medical supplies
they require to meet the standards to provide quality care.
And unfortunately,
many of those hospitals have been cites themselves of
violence where patients and healthcare workers were being harassed.
And in some cases we know
that patients were killed in some of these attacks in the hospitals.
And so
the
right to health
has been in the spotlight from my perspective
in a way that we've never seen before in the times of a crisis and a conflict
in that those protected sites under international human rights law
and international humanitarian law
have been bombed and attacked.
And
Israel has failed firstly as an occupying power but also as a
member of the UN to uphold those rights and meet their obligations.
Yes, Please
be a
from
Anadolu.
I would like to return to the medical education topic and I want to ask,
especially as you say,
many hospitals are not functional. And what happened to Al
Shifa and Al Nasra?
I want to ask, Do we have any update on the medical evacuation situation? Is any
happened in the recent days? How many people evacuated with what?
And also,
I
would like to ask,
Do you have any rough number of how many
people urgently need medical evacuation to stay alive?
Thank you.
So no, we don't have, um
numbers of how many people need evacuation.
I think the destruction of civilian infrastructure
and civilian order is also what is problematic in the space.
Because if you can't record, you can't quantify you can't report,
um, there can be a sufficient enough response to what is needed.
Hence the continued call for
for an immediate ceasefire.
It's to allow for a moment for firstly immediate
return to humanitarian support and aid.
But in the long term The work that needs to happen to
repair the systems of just health reporting and health data collection.
Um, it's going to be a very big task right now.
We know we have a lot of physician organisations on the ground.
We have aid organisations on the ground but to give
you the numbers and hold anyone accountable to the numbers
Um, you know, we don't have those but we know
that a lot of people have been
evacuated to the neighbouring countries and the region
and even that in itself takes extremely long to complete as a process.
And a lot of it has been left to those who can raise funds and crowdfund to do that.
There isn't a systemic, structured,
focused and a deliberate intent to ensure
that people's rights to health are protected.
The response is coming from people themselves Crowdfunding
the
up.
Do you have a follow up?
Do you have
a a
little one short one? I just wanted to ask You said that?
Many people evacuated but I want to specifically ask Does
any evacuation happen recently in the last few days?
Thank you.
In the last few days.
I can't give you an answer,
but I know that 4373 patients have been assisted through the WHO work.
Um, but not as of yesterday or Saturday that I can't give you. But there has been,
um, evacuation.
The approval rate is 4347 per cent, which is very low still,
if you account the types of injuries that are being seen at the moment,
and I mean the point is that Gaza should not be evacuating people for support, right?
This
facilities and the health services should be able to adequately respond
to their needs where they live and where they reside.
So the medical evacuation is also just another layer of support.
But it's not a permanent solution to what is needed.
And we are already struggling with evacuations even before October the seventh.
But the WHO and other agencies have been supporting with evacuations.
Just one more follow up about the health workers in Gaza.
Do you know how many health workers have been killed?
Have disappeared or have been arrested since the seventh of October?
Thank you.
I think again with the data,
it's important to underscore that we have what's
been reported and a lot of what is missing
is yet to be truly truly uncovered.
We know that 520 healthcare professionals have been injured,
and we know that 350 healthcare professionals,
including Allied healthcare workers, have been killed.
350 have been killed
and 520 have been injured. And remember these in my view, are gross under,
uh, reporting.
And if you define who a health care worker is,
we have Children now in Gaza who are volunteering in
hospitals and they won't be counted as healthcare workers,
right?
They are Children,
but we have them working as first aid responders as well.
And so there is a lot of complexity around,
um, just even analysing properly. Who's a healthcare worker,
Um, and and who's accounted for?
But that's the situation that you find Children having to take on
the incredible task of being first aid responders in hospitals and clinics.
Thank you.
I'm just going to ask if there are any questions online because the, uh,
special rapporteur doesn't have much time left.
Um, if there's anyone online that has a question
Uh, Christian.
Sorry, we're having some technical difficulty.
That's when he can answer
perhaps a follow up on the healthcare workers.
We we do have reports of healthcare workers who have been harassed,
who have been tortured and imprisoned,
and those will emerge
in further details because they need proper investigation.
I think there's another question that you asked earlier on.
Um, you know,
including some of the directors of the main facilities in the in the hospitals,
many of them who refused to leave and follow those evacuation orders early on,
and we know many of our own colleagues were
dealing and responding to their own families coming in.
Um, you know, after, uh uh, they had been injured,
so it's a real It's a real traumatic space to be in.
When you when you are an oath taker, you stay. But you know what that means
when you could have been evacuated. And I think that says a lot
about the commitment of healthcare workers. Um, in Gaza.
Last
question.
Sorry, I just I just wanted to clarify on the numbers that you provided, um,
on the numbers of health care
professionals injured and killed, uh,
where Where you're getting those numbers from, uh,
and also you had some other percentages and stuff earlier.
There's a database, um, that the WHO has, um that is live, um,
that we can share the links to those, um, as well.
Um, with you.
And of course, there are, um, other, you know,
aid agencies like UN FP a
who have been reporting more on the sexual and reproductive health side of things.
The you know, the many ma, uh, maternal deaths that we see.
Um, the kinds of postpartum sepsis that we see
but also related to that is the neonatal deaths
where we saw the many Children, um, dying in incubators.
Um, who were also, um, you know,
affected by the by the bombings that were targeted at the hospitals themselves.
We also remember that many of those newborns could not be evacuated, in fact,
and so we do know that there is many different agencies providing the data.
And I've got the links that I can share with you
to the to the WHO International website for that.
Let's go ahead.
Two.
Actually, my question An
abi
SAB,
a
reporter of different Arabic media.
My question is about the mental health of Children
based in Gaza. After more than six months of attacks,
Can they find any healing solutions?
Maybe after the end of the war, we know that the war was very severe.
What's the current situation and how bad will be the future of those Children?
Thank you.
Thank you very much. Um and this will be the last question.
The mental health aspect of it continues to be of concern.
And I think it's important to realise that this is an acute episode on top of a chronic
issue of mental distress and anguish that was already existing.
It was never normal what Gaza was before the October 7th,
which is why I keep saying that as the world thinks of
a peace solution, lasting peace and a ceasefire,
our imagination cannot be limited to what Gaza was before. Because even that
had multiple violations of human rights
and so mental health,
intergenerational trauma,
the kinds of acute assistance medical debriefing psychological debriefing that
many Children still have not received is of serious concern.
And often of course, we see the physical injury, and because it's physical,
one can appreciate the severity of it.
But the acute mental distress
that will then turn into anxiety and other kinds
of mental illnesses later on in life is really,
really important to start thinking intentionally about.
And all of the support should be accompanied by
psychological and mental health practitioners who are specifically, um,
you know, uh, with expertise to support in these kinds of context.
Imagine living under the
constant
anticipation
of a bomb
of a gun or being shot while you're trying to get food or water or play
that is, in itself a
form of violence to anticipate
that your life could be distinguished in any moment
and for Children to grow up with that level of trauma is not normal.
But for decades,
that has been normalised for the people of occupied Palestinian territory.
And I'm saying that October 7th is an episode amongst the
many in which the world leaders have let the people down
and how we move forward from here
and
should be really comprehensive
and and and we ought to understand
that
the current state of the violence in Gaza
is completely incompatible with the right to health.
And so one way of moving
is to really put the right to health in front because it's so inclusive.
It talks about underlying determinants.
It talks about what should be happening in facilities in clinical care,
but it also talks about health systems. And that's where the politics are.
And that's where the UN itself finds, um, its power and authority.
It's in that political diplomatic space,
and we ought to do everything that we all have to
be able to respond adequately in this moment of crisis.
Thank you.
We will now wind up this press conference
because the special rapporteur has another engagement.
Uh, thank you for your interest in the work of the special rapporteur.
And, uh, we will make arrangements to send the opening statement around
after the press conference. Thank you so much for joining us.