United Nations, May 13: With the Gaza aid blockade topping the 70-day mark, UN humanitarians said on Tuesday its partners reported that only five hospitals across the Strip still provide maternity care.
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said midwives lack supplies and equipment. Partners report that 17,000 pregnant and breastfeeding mothers are suffering from malnutrition and need urgent support.
OCHA said no aid or commercial supplies had been entering for more than 70 days. The full-scale blockade of the Strip is taking a disastrous toll on the population.
The World Health Organization said earlier this month that only about one-third of Gaza’s usual 36 hospitals and 30 percent of primary healthcare centers are functional in some capacity amid repeated attacks and shortages of vital medical supplies, fuel, and staff.
Hospitals continue to come under attack. In Khan Younis, Israeli forces hit the surgical department of Nasser Medical Complex, with several casualties reported. The complex is one of only eight public hospitals operating partially across Gaza.
Following the Khan Younis attack, Deputy Humanitarian Coordinator Suzanna Tkalec and an OCHA team visited the hospital. She spoke with staff and a team of international doctors, saying she was appalled by yet another attack on this hospital, the fourth since the beginning of this war.
Tkalec said the attacks are unacceptable and must stop, reminding that healthcare facilities and those serving them must always be protected. OCHA said that despite the continuing hostilities across Gaza, the UN and its partners provided children in Khan Younis with guidance on how to avoid unexploded ordnance.
The office said it is just an example of how the United Nations and its humanitarian partners continue to visit people in their communities to assess needs. On Friday in Deir al Balah, a team visited two schools hit by an air strike earlier in the week. Hundreds of families sheltering there need food parcels, water tanks and latrines. Partners do their best to distribute whatever emergency shelter supplies are left, as tents are depleted.
OCHA said Israeli authorities continue to deny and impede attempts by humanitarians to carry out critical missions in Gaza Today (Tuesday) out of 11 UN requests for coordinated humanitarian movements, five were denied outright, including one planned mission to retrieve fuel from Rafah to supply hospitals, ambulances, and water, sanitation and hygiene facilities,” OCHA said.
The other six missions, which included the rotation of staff, were facilitated. With both supplies and time running out, OCHA said principled humanitarian assistance and other essential supplies must be allowed into Gaza to save lives and humanitarians working to reach people across the Strip must be facilitated.
Israel, as the occupying power, must abide by international humanitarian law and facilitate aid for people in need, wherever they are,” the humanitarian office said.#nepal #Gaza hospitals #un #Xinhua
