UNITED NATIONS/GENEVA: UN chief Antonio Guterres said Sunday he was "shocked by harrowing levels of death, injury and destruction” in north Gaza, where Zionist entity forces are carrying out attacks they say aim to prevent Hamas regrouping. "The plight of Palestinian civilians trapped in North Gaza is unbearable,” Guterres’s spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.
"The Secretary-General is shocked by the harrowing levels of death, injury and destruction in the north, with civilians trapped under rubble, the sick and wounded going without life-saving health care, and families lacking food and shelter.” The spokesman said that according to Gaza’s health ministry, hundreds of people have been killed in recent weeks and more than 60,000 others were forced to flee.
"Repeated efforts to deliver humanitarian supplies essential to survive—food, medicine and shelter—continue to be denied by the Zionist authorities, with few exceptions, putting countless lives in peril,” Dujarric said. "In the name of humanity, the Secretary-General reiterates his calls for an immediate ceasefire, the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages, and accountability for crimes under international law
Meanwhile, the World Health Organization chief warned of a disastrous situation in the north of war-ravaged Gaza, with "intensive military operations unfolding around and within healthcare facilities”.
"The situation in northern Gaza is catastrophic,” Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on X, warning that "a critical shortage of medical supplies, compounded by severely limited access, are depriving people of life saving care.” He highlighted Kamal Adwan, northern Gaza’s last functioning hospital, which was stormed by Zionist entity forces on Friday, according to Gaza’s health ministry.
The ministry charged that the raid on the facility in the Jabalia camp, where Zionist entity launched a major operation earlier this month, left two children dead. It accused Zionist entity forces of detaining hundreds of staff, patients and displaced people during the raid. The Zionist entity military said its forces were operating around Kamal Adwan, but was "not aware of live fire and strikes in the area of the hospital”. Tedros said that the Gaza health ministry had informed WHO, which had temporarily lost contact with its staff at the hospital, that the siege had ended. "But it came at a heavy cost,” he said.
Late Friday, WHO said three health workers and another employee were injured in the assault and that dozens of health workers were detained at the hospital, where around 600 patients, health workers and others were sheltering. "Following the detention of 44 male staff members, only female staff, the hospital director, and one male doctor are left to care for nearly 200 patients in desperate need of medical attention,” Tedros said Saturday. "Reports of the hospital facilities and medical supplies being damaged or destroyed during the siege are deplorable,” he said.
Medical charity MSF meanwhile said that one of its surgeons at the hospital was missing. "We are deeply concerned for the safety and whereabouts of Dr Mohammed Obeid, an MSF orthopedic surgeon who was sheltering and working in Kamal Adwan Hospital,” MSF said on X, adding that it had not had contact with him since Friday. "We are trying to get in touch with our colleague and are urgently seeking information about his whereabouts,” it said. "We call for his safety and protection, as well as to all medical staff in Gaza.” — AFP