UNICEF: Medical personnel in Gaza Strip are operating under extreme pressure
UNICEF spokesperson Kazem Abu Khalaf confirmed that medical personnel in the Gaza Strip are operating under extreme pressure, amid a severe shortage of medicines and medical supplies, in addition to power outages and a shortage of fuel needed to operate medical equipment in hospitals.
In a statement published on the organization's official website on Saturday, Abu Khalaf said that the United Nations is not demanding the impossible in the Gaza Strip, but rather the implementation of international law, which guarantees civilians the right to treatment, life, and movement.
He added, "If Gaza is left in this situation, we are facing a humanitarian catastrophe whose effects will be felt for decades."
He pointed out that critical cases of children, women, and the elderly are dying daily due to their inability to receive adequate medical care.
He explained that the situation cannot be fixed with aid alone, but rather requires a comprehensive plan to rebuild the economy and operate and open the crossings on a stable basis that allows the entry of goods, fuel, and medical supplies.
Abu Khalaf added that the health system in the Gaza Strip has almost completely collapsed due to the ongoing Israeli bombardment and blockade.
He pointed out that the number of hospitals operating in the Strip before the war was 36, but this number has decreased to only about 18, most of which are operating at a partial capacity of no more than 50%.
He stated that more than 10,500 wounded Palestinians need to leave the Gaza Strip for urgent treatment abroad, but the rate of discharges is only two cases per day.
Abu Khalaf continued, "If the situation continues like this, we will need more than 13 years to complete the discharge of all wounded for treatment."
Whatsapp Telegram Email Print
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Saba Yemen
11 hours ago
- Saba Yemen
Death toll from Israeli genocide in the Gaza Strip risen to 57,130
Gaza – Saba: The death toll from the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip has risen to 57,130 martyrs and 135,173 wounded since October 7, 2023. The Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza stated in a daily statistical report on the number of martyrs and wounded as a result of the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip, received by the Yemeni News Agency (Saba), that hospitals in the Strip received 118 martyrs and 581 wounded in the past 24 hours. Whatsapp Telegram Email Print
Yemen Online
a day ago
- Yemen Online
UN Allocates $16.6 Million to Bolster Yemen's Humanitarian Response Amid Deepening Crisis
Aden - The United Nations has announced a critical new funding allocation of $16.6 million to support Yemen's rapidly deteriorating humanitarian situation, as part of efforts to salvage the country's underfunded 2025 Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP). This emergency allocation aims to deliver immediate relief to vulnerable communities suffering from conflict, economic collapse, and disease outbreaks. According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the funds will be directed toward life-saving interventions in health, water and sanitation, nutrition, and protection services—especially in areas with high levels of displacement and food insecurity. The announcement comes as humanitarian needs continue to mount. Despite this latest injection, the 2025 HRP remains critically underfunded, with only 10.9% of the required $2.48 billion secured so far. 'This contribution reflects the UN's commitment to bridging urgent gaps in Yemen's humanitarian response,' said a UN OCHA spokesperson. 'But unless additional funding is mobilized swiftly, millions will remain at risk of hunger, disease, and displacement.' Aid agencies are calling on international donors to follow suit and scale up funding to prevent further deterioration of conditions, particularly ahead of the rainy season that could worsen disease outbreaks. The UN reiterated its call for sustained and flexible financing to protect the most vulnerable and support the continuity of essential services across Yemen's embattled governorates.
Yemen Online
a day ago
- Yemen Online
5,000 children killed or injured in Yemen war, UN Says
The war in Yemen has killed or injured more than 5,000 children and left another 400,000 severely malnourished and fighting for their lives, the UN children's agency said on Tuesday. In a report unveiled in Sanaa, UNICEF said nearly two million Yemeni children were out of school, a quarter of them since the conflict escalated when a Saudi-led coalition intervened in March 2015. More than three million children were born into the war, it said, adding they had been 'scarred by years of violence, displacement, disease, poverty, undernutrition and a lack of access to basic services.' UNICEF said the more than 5,000 children killed or injured in the violence amounted to 'an average of five children every day since March 2015.' 'An entire generation of children in Yemen is growing up knowing nothing but violence,' said Meritxell Relano, UNICEF representative in Yemen. 'Children in Yemen are suffering the devastating consequences of a war that is not of their making,' he said in a statement. 'Malnutrition and disease are rampant as basic services collapse,' he said, adding: 'Those who survive are likely to carry the physical and psychological scars of conflict for the rest of their lives.' The UN agency said more than 11 million children — or 'nearly every child in Yemen' — was now in need of humanitarian assistance. It called for an end to the bloodshed and the protection of children, as well as sustainable and unconditional access to deliver assistance to every child in need. Yemen's internationally recognized government said on Tuesday that it faces economic difficulties and called on its allies, including Saudi Arabia, to help overcome them. In a post on Facebook, Prime Minister Ahmed bin Dagher shared a letter to allies that called on them to help the country financially in order to 'save Yemenis from famine.' Dagher urged the allies to transfer cash to the central bank in Aden, his government's de facto capital after Iran-backed Houthi rebels ousted it from Sanaa. The war has killed 9,245 people since Saudi Arabia and its Arab allies joined the government's fight against the Houthis, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). It triggered what the United Nations has called the world's worst humanitarian crisis. More than 2,200 people have died as a result of a cholera epidemic that has hit the country since April, according to the WHO.
