The regional directors of Unicef, the UN Population Fund, and the World Health Organization joined leading medical aid organisations on 12 November in pleading for an immediate halt to attacks on healthcare facilities in Gaza.
“We are horrified at the latest reports of attacks on and in the vicinity of al-Shifa Hospital, al-Rantissi Naser Paediatric Hospital, al-Quds Hospital, and others in Gaza City and northern Gaza, killing many, including children,” the directors said in a joint statement after the intensification of the shelling of hospitals over the weekend.
In the past 36 days WHO has recorded 137 attacks on healthcare facilities in Gaza, resulting in 521 deaths and 686 injuries. At least 16 healthcare workers have died in that period, it said.
Health agencies are particularly concerned about the conditions at al-Shifa hospital, the largest medical facility in the Gaza strip. The hospital houses a large number of critically ill patients seeking lifesaving treatment and thousands of Palestinians who sheltered there in the belief it was a safe haven from the fighting, but …