UNITED NATIONS – The number of people killed in Gaza is nearing the 9,000 mark amid mounting concerns over the aftermath of Israeli airstrikes on a densely-populated refugee camp near Gaza City, while a key hospital has stopped operations and UN humanitarian workers are unable to deliver aid to the north as the ground war intensifies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At least 9,061 Palestinians have been killed in the Israeli attacks, mostly women and minors, and more than 32,000 people have been wounded, the Palestinian Health Ministry said Thursday. The death toll is without precedent in decades of Israeli-Palestinian violence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The UN humanitarian coordination affairs office, OCHA, stressed that as Israeli ground operations and bombardments in northern Gaza continued, \u201camong the deadliest incidents\u201d were heavy airstrikes hitting Jabalia Refugee Camp on Wednesday \u201cfor the second day in a row and within less than 24 hours\u201d. The strikes reportedly destroyed multiple residential buildings and killed \u201cdozens\u201d, OCHA said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The UN human rights office, OHCHR, noted Wednesday that given the high number of civilian deaths and injuries in Gaza \u201cand the scale of the destruction following Israeli airstrikes on Jabalia refugee camp, we have serious concerns that these are disproportionate attacks that could amount to war crimes.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Meanwhile, in a blow to scores of chronically ill patients, Gaza\u2019s main cancer treatment centre, the Turkish-Palestinian Friendship Hospital, ran out of fuel and was forced to stop most of its activities. The lives of some 70 patients are in danger, OCHA wrote on social platform X on Thursday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
OCHA also sounded the alarm over reports that the Al Hilo Hospital, also in Gaza city, was reportedly struck by shelling Wednesday night. \u201cThe hospital had absorbed and replaced Shifa hospital\u2019s maternity ward, which is being used now to treat the wounded,\u201d OCHA said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Currently, 14 out of 35 hospitals across Gaza are not functioning, it was pointed out. The head of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said at a a press briefing, his teams \u201cwill do everything we can to ensure that all people in Gaza have access to life saving health and humanitarian services\u201d, adding that \u201cin the current situation this is almost impossible.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAt the very least, we need a humanitarian pause in the fighting, and ideally an end to the conflict. We need unfettered access and safe passage agreed by both parties to ensure the security of access routes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He repeated that there could be \u201cno justification\u201d for the horrific terror attacks by Hamas of 7 October.
\u201cI understand the grief, the anger and the fear of the Israeli people. I also understand the grief, the anger, and the fear of the Palestinian people. WHO continues to call on Hamas to release the hostages it took, many of whom need urgent medical attention. We continue to call on Israel to restore supplies of electricity, water and fuel.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Gaza city and northern Gaza have been \u201clargely cut off\u201d from the rest of the strip as a result of the Israeli ground operations and related clashes with Palestinian armed groups, OCHA said.
This means that the delivery of humanitarian aid from the south to some 300,000 internally displaced persons in the north has \u201ccome to a halt\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
OCHA reported that on Wednesday ten trucks carrying water, food and medicines entered Gaza through the Rafah crossing on the enclave\u2019s southern border with Egypt, bringing the total number of aid trucks allowed in since 21 October to 227.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
UN relief chief Martin Griffiths, who just completed a visit to Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory, said that \u201cthe trucks which have crossed into Gaza so far following painstaking negotiations offer some relief but are nowhere near enough\u201d.
The entry of fuel essential for hospitals, ambulances and water desalination plants remains banned by the Israeli authorities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Speaking at the regular noon briefing in New York, UN Spokesperson St\u00e9phane Dujarric said the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres welcomed the \u201ccontinued movement of people and humanitarian assistance through the Rafah crossing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A regular and sustained flow of aid on a \u201cscale needed to meet the mounting needs of the Palestinian population\u201d is essential, he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The aid flow together with the rotation of UN personnel via the crossing \u2013 and movement of foreign nationals \u2013 \u201cis an important step in the right direction, on which we need to build.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe UN remains committed to continuing our intensive work with all parties to alleviate the suffering of the most vulnerable people in Gaza\u201d, he said.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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