WHO chief slams 'harrowing' stories of Gaza shelling victims

Publications 26 December, 2023 19:37

World Health Organization (WHO) staff visiting Al-Aqsa Hospital in the Gaza Strip heard ‘harrowing accounts’ from patients and medical staff about the consequences of the Israeli airstrike in the central part of the enclave near the Maghazi refugee camp, WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus reported on his X (formerly Twitter) page.

He said that WHO representatives visited Al-Aqsa Hospital on Monday. According to the medical facility, a total of about 100 wounded were admitted the night before. Earlier, Palestinian health officials reported that "70 people were killed" in the Israeli airstrike. "WHO’s team heard harrowing accounts shared by health workers and victims of the suffering caused by the explosions," Ghebreyesus wrote. "One child had lost their whole family in the strike on the camp. A nurse at the hospital suffered the same loss, with his entire family killed," the WHO chief said.

Medical staff at the hospital "desperately tried to save a 9-year-old boy, named Ahmed, who suffered severe head injuries after being hit by shrapnel and debris from an explosion while he was crossing the road." "Doctors told us that his injuries were so serious he would not survive," the WHO chief said.

"The hospital is taking in far more patients than its bed capacity and staff can handle," and "many will not survive the wait." The hospital currently has five operating theaters, with two more supported by Doctors Without Borders, "but this is still not enough," Ghebreyesus explained. "Due to the ever-increasing scale of needs caused by the carnage, WHO is continuing to support the health system across Gaza, despite insecurity and significant logistical hurdles," he pointed out.

The WHO chief "is extremely concerned about the unbearable strain that escalating hostilities are putting on the few hospitals across Gaza that remain open." At the same time, "most of the health system decimated and brought to its knees." Ghebreyesus pointed to the need for an immediate ceasefire. After the UN Security Council passed a resolution calling for an urgent humanitarian pause, this latest strike in Gaza shows " just why we need a ceasefire now," the WHO chief concluded.

Tensions flared up again in the Middle East on October 7 when militants from the Gaza Strip-based radical Palestinian movement Hamas staged a surprise attack on Israeli territory from Gaza, killing residents of Israeli borderline kibbutz settlements and taking over 200 hostages, including women, children and the elderly. Hamas described its attack as a response to the aggressive actions of Israeli authorities against the Al-Aqsa Mosque on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem’s Old City. In response, Israel declared a total blockade of the Gaza Strip, home to 2.3 million Palestinians, and has been delivering air strikes on Gaza as well as some parts of Lebanon and Syria. Clashes are also underway in the West Bank.