The vicinities of Shifa and Al Quds hospitals in Gaza city and of
the Indonesian hospital in northern Gaza, have been bombarded
over the weekend, UN humanitarian affairs coordination office
OCHAsaid.
“This followed renewed calls by the Israeli military to evacuate
these facilities immediately,” OCHA added.
Evacuation remains ‘impossible’
According to OCHA, some 117,000 displaced people are sheltering
in the 10 hospitals still operational in Gaza city and elsewhere
in northern Gaza, which have received “repeated evacuation
orders” in recent days.
UN health agency WHO reiterated
overnight on social platform X that “evacuation of hospitals is
impossible without endangering patients’ lives”.
Humanitarians keep working
Emergency C-sections are being performed without anaesthesia amid
shortages of medical supplies and power, and doctors are
sometimes left delivering the premature babies of dying mothers,
UN sexual and reproductive health agency UNFPA said, citing
harrowing testimony from Shifa Hospital staff.
The UN agency for Palestine refugees, UNRWA, said on Monday
that its aid workers in Gaza “keep going”, providing assistance
to over 600,000 people who have sought safety in UN Palestine
refugee relief organisation (UNRWA) shelters, now more than three
times over capacity.
“They are the face of humanity during one of its darkest hours,”
UNRWA said.
The agency held a memorial service on Sunday for 59 of its
personnel killed in the conflict so far and UN chief António
Guterres stressed his “gratitude, solidarity and full support” to
colleagues working to save lives in Gaza while risking their own.
Death toll keeps rising
As of Sunday evening the death toll in Gaza since 7 October
passed the 8,000 mark, according to the Hamas-run Ministry of
Health in Gaza.
OCHA also said that Palestinian armed groups’ indiscriminate
rocket firing towards Israeli cities and towns continued over the
past 24 hours, with no fatalities reported.
According to the Israeli authorities, 239 Israelis and foreign
nationals, including some 30 children, remain captive in Gaza and
40 people are still reported missing following Hamas’ terror
attacks on Israel on 7 October which killed 1,400 people.
The UN has repeatedly called for the immediate and unconditional
release of the hostages. Mr. Guterres repeated on Sunday that
“there is no justification, ever, for the killing, injuring and
abduction of civilians”.
Much more aid needed
OCHA said that on Sunday “at least 33 trucks” carrying water,
food, and medical supplies entered Gaza through the Rafah
crossing with Egypt, the largest such delivery since limited
convoys resumed on 21 October.
“While this increase is welcome, a much larger volume of aid is
needed on a regular basis to prevent further deterioration in the
dire humanitarian situation, including civil unrest,” OCHA
stressed. Before the 7 October Hamas attacks, close to 500 trucks
a day reportedly entered Gaza.
Over the weekend - amid UN relief team warnings that people are
already going hungry in Gaza - thousands of people broke into
several UNRWA warehouses and distribution centres, taking wheat
flour, hygiene supplies and other items.
At the same time, a telecommunication blackout lasting over 24
hours cut Gazans off from the rest of the world and from each
other. UNRWA’s Operations Director, Tom White, described the
development as “a worrying sign that civil order is starting to
break down after three weeks of war and a tight siege on
Gaza”.
OCHA stressed once again that the entry of fuel, which has not
been allowed on the aid trucks, is “urgently required” to operate
medical equipment and water and sanitation facilities.
