According to Gaza’s health ministry, Israel has not ceased to target hospitals and medical centres in the enclave.
Ashraf al-Qudra, Gaza health ministry Spokesman, said at a news conference, “Violations against medical teams are ongoing.”
“One-hundred and thirty medical staff have lost their lives,” he added.
“The Israeli occupiers continue to intentionally hit medical institutions. Fifty-seven medical institutions have so far been hit. Thirty-two medical centres are out of service because of being targeted or lack of fuel.
“The Turkish-Palestinian Friendship Hospital has been targeted directly and part of it was destroyed. A lot of the cancer patients suffered panic attacks because of this.”
Ashraf al-Qudra
UN human rights office Spokesperson, Elizabeth Throssell emphasized that attacking hospitals “would amount to a violation of international humanitarian law.”
Answering a reporter’s question on claims that Hamas uses hospitals as “human shields”, she said “medical units must be protected” regardless of the Palestinian group’s actions.
World Health Organization official, Christian Lindmeier iterated Throssell’s remarks, saying, “Health facilities should never be a target.”
Earlier, the Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates put out a statement on X, condemning in the strongest terms the “deliberate targeting of the remaining hospitals, health centres, ambulances and medical and first aid teams working in the Gaza Strip, by directly bombing them, damaging parts of them, or bombing their surroundings.”
The ministry cited incidences such as “the targeting of the Indonesian hospital … as well as the targeting of the Turkish Friendship Hospital … bombing of the European Hospital area and the vicinity of Al-Quds Hospital.”
“This is in addition to the repeated power cuts to Al-Aqsa Hospital,” it stated.
“The Ministry considers that targeting the remaining hospitals is a deepening of the war of genocide committed by the occupying state in the Gaza Strip, depriving citizens and patients of their right to the simplest forms of health treatment, as well as expanding the forced displacement of citizens.
“The Ministry calls on the international community to listen to the cries and suffering of Palestinian citizens … and to take necessary measures imposed by international law to provide protection for hospitals. The Ministry reaffirms that stopping the war is the correct way to protect civilians and secure access to their basic needs.”
Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates
The Palestinian Health Ministry in Gaza says 8,525 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli air raids since October 7, including 3,542 children.
WHO Warns Of “Public Health Catastrophe”
The World Health Organization has issued a grave warning that Gaza was on the brink of a “public health catastrophe” due to overcrowding, widespread displacement, and severe damage to water and sanitation facilities.
UNICEF, on the other hand, warned of the risk of infant deaths due to dehydration with just 5% of normal water supplies available.
UNICEF stated that at least 940 children have been reported missing in Gaza.
“Gaza has become a graveyard of children,” UNICEF Spokesperson, James Elder told a UN press briefing in Geneva.
Elder reiterated the UN children’s agency call for an immediate ceasefire and humanitarian access to supplies for the enclave.
Children in Gaza are dying not only from Israeli air strikes but also because of a lack of medical care, he said.
UN relief Chief, Martin Griffiths, posted on X that he spoke to families in Gaza over the phone in the morning.
“What they’ve endured since October 7 is beyond devastating. And when an 8-year-old tells you that she doesn’t want to die, it’s hard not to feel helpless,” he noted.
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