New York - Gaza: Europe and the Arabs
Martin Griffiths, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, said there was no justification for any acts of war in or around health care facilities. Griffiths' comments came in the wake of reports that Shifa Hospital, the largest hospital in Gaza, was attacked by Israeli forces.
The UN official said in a tweet on the website "On the sick and civilians trying to flee."
He added: "These attacks are unreasonable and abhorrent and must stop. Hospitals must be as safe as possible and those who need them must have confidence that they are places of shelter, not places of war."
Al-Shifa Hospital faces a “very difficult situation”
The health sector in Gaza has suffered from major challenges since the escalation of the conflict on October 7, with shortages of medical supplies, food, water and fuel.
Hospitals are operating far beyond their capacity due to the high number of patients, as well as civilians who have fled to them to seek safety.
Basic services, including maternal and newborn care, and treatment of chronic conditions, have also been greatly affected.
Among those hospitals is Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, where Hakim Muhammad Matar works as part of the emergency department team.
Matar says that quick surgeries are performed for some patients without anesthesia.
Despite the severity of the injuries, Matar says that they are trying to give the sick and injured some hope.
He added: "We choose the lesser of two evils in order to preserve this patient's life."
Abdul Rahim Khalifa, a pediatric surgeon at Al-Shifa Hospital, also spoke about the shortage in medical services provided to patients, especially children, whether in terms of supplies, places, or operating rooms.
He highlighted the great difficulties that hinder the provision of medical services, stressing that “children are in need of intensive care. Some of them are on beds in the emergency department, and there is no place for them in intensive care. Some of them also remained on the floor in the emergency department in a place where we cannot reach them.” We provide care for them."
For his part, the Commissioner-General of UNRWA called on the League of Arab States and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation to act now to change the course of the crisis in Gaza before it is too late. He stressed that the political solution has become a matter of life and death for millions of Palestinians.
This came in the speech delivered by Philippe Lazzarini before the joint emergency summit of the League of Arab States and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, yesterday, Saturday.
Lazzarini said that the Palestinians in Gaza have always relied on the solidarity of the Arab and Islamic worlds. “Today, they also need to turn this solidarity into more forceful action.”
He pointed out that the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) is not only the largest UN agency in Gaza, but it is also the last remaining lifeline for 2.2 million people, calling on the Arab and Islamic worlds to show their solidarity by supporting UNRWA in three specific and urgent issues:
First, support a humanitarian ceasefire, while strictly adhering to international humanitarian law.
Here he stressed the need to insist on the protection of civilians and civilian infrastructure, including United Nations facilities and hospitals.
Secondly, the need for a serious and continuous flow of humanitarian aid.
He stressed the need for the flow of supplies to be proportionate to the enormous humanitarian needs, and the importance of increasing the volume of aid and using other crossings, including those in Israel, such as the Kerem Shalom crossing.
Third, “UNRWA urgently needs money and your voice.”
He called on the two organizations to vigorously defend the agency against false and disingenuous allegations that its schools teach hatred or have failed civilians in Gaza.
“These accusations come from those who want us to fail,” he said. “They feed a toxic and polarized environment.”
It is noteworthy that UNRWA has been facing a chronic financial crisis for more than a decade. So far, the agency is unsure whether it will be able to pay the salaries of its employees until the end of the year, including those in Gaza who continue to work under dangerous conditions.
Continuous bombing and blockade are suffocating Gaza
Lazzarini said that UNRWA is saddened by the loss of 101 of its employees who were confirmed killed in Gaza since October 7, noting that Monday will see UN flags around the world lowered at half-mast in honor of their memory.
Across the Gaza Strip, more than 10,000 people were reportedly killed, the majority of whom were women and children. “It is certain that many are still under the rubble,” Lazzarini said.
The Commissioner-General of UNRWA stated that "Israeli forces forced more than 1.5 million people to leave the northern Gaza Strip." More than 700,000 women, children and men now live in UNRWA schools and shelters.
The UN official explained that these shelters have become overcrowded and lack the minimum standards for a decent life, warning that the continuous bombing, along with the siege, are suffocating Gaza and its people while basic services collapse and food, water, medicine and fuel run out.