Denial of basic needs in Gaza inhumane, intolerable: WHO chief
- 07 Apr 2024
The United Nations and international aid organisations decried on Sunday the devastating toll of six months of war in Gaza, warning that the Palestinian territory had become "beyond catastrophic."
"Six months is an awful milestone," the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) said, warning that "humanity has been all but abandoned."
The World Health Organisation (WHO) Chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has said that denial of basic needs in Gaza is “inhumane and intolerable.”
In a statement on X, Tedros stated that the deaths and grievous injuries of thousands of children in Gaza will remain a stain on all of humanity. “This assault on present and future generations must end,” he said.
“WHO, alongside our health and humanitarian partners, will continue to serve health workers, patients and communities in Gaza,” Ghebreyesus said “But continued denial of access means the population’s needs far exceed any aid we have been able to deliver so far,” Ghebreyesus added.
“The fact that over 70 per cent of deaths in Gaza are women and children should be a compelling reason to halt the war,” he said. “We urge all parties to silence their guns. We appeal for peace. Now,” he added. "The denial of basic needs — food, fuel, sanitation, shelter, security and healthcare — is inhumane and intolerable," he wrote on X, formerly Twitter. Of Gaza's 36 main hospitals, only 10 remain even partially functional, according to the WHO.
'Stain on all of humanity'
Tedros voiced particular outrage at "the deaths and grievous injuries of thousands of children in Gaza," which he said would "remain a stain on all of humanity." "This assault on present and future generations must end."
Philippe Lazzarini, head of the UN agency supporting Palestinian refugees known as UNRWA, said the "hellhole in Gaza is deepening by the day."
"All lines — including the red lines — were crossed. This war is made far worse through technologies mis-used by humans to harm other humans; en-masse," he wrote on X.
"It is made worse by the famine born from an Israeli-imposed siege, one would think it's from a different era. As a result, a man-made famine is eating up bodies of babies and young children," Lazzarini added.
UNICEF chief Catherine Russell said more than 13,000 children have reportedly died. "Homes, schools and hospitals in ruin. Teachers, doctors and humanitarians killed. Famine is imminent," she said on X on Saturday. "The level and speed of destruction are shocking. Children need a ceasefire NOW."
The UN humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths insisted on Saturday that there needed to be "a reckoning for this betrayal of humanity."
The IFRC chief Jagan Chapagain meanwhile described the situation as "beyond catastrophic" and "millions of lives are at risk of hunger."
Agence France-Presse