Malnutrition victims arrive at north Gaza’s Kamal Adwan Hospital
The World Health Organization has expressed grave concern for hospitals in war-battered northern Gaza where one hospital director described the situation as an “extreme catastrophe”.
“We are very, very concerned, and it’s getting harder and harder to get the aid in. It’s getting harder and harder to get the specialist personnel in at a time when there is greater and greater need,” WHO spokeswoman Margaret Harris told journalists in Geneva.
She said the organisation is “particularly concerned about Kamal Adwan Hospital” in Beit Lahiya, which was again attacked on Tuesday by Israeli troops.
“A large number of children and elderly people continue to arrive suffering from malnutrition,” hospital director Dr Hussam Abu Safia said, accusing Israel of “blocking the entry of food, water, medical staff and materials destined for the north”.
Harris estimated that between November 8-16, “four WHO missions we were trying to get up to go were denied”.
Wounded Palestinians receive treatment at Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahiya
Israeli army forced food off trucks before delivery to north Gaza: UN
The UN’s humanitarian office says thousands of Palestinians in the areas of northern Gaza under siege by Israeli forces are struggling to stay alive because there has been virtually no food or humanitarian aid deliveries for more than 40 days.
UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric delivered the grim report from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, known as OCHA.
“OCHA reports that all attempts by the UN to support people in [Beit Hanoon], Beit Lahiya and parts of [Jabalia] – all of which remain under siege – have been either denied or impeded,” he said.
So far in November, OCHA reports that 27 out of 31 planned humanitarian missions were rejected by Israel and the other four were severely impeded, Dujarric said.
“The result is that bakeries and kitchens in north Gaza governorate have shut down, nutrition support has been suspended, and the refueling of water and sanitation facilities has been completely blocked,” Dujarric said.
Food and medical supplies were supposed to be delivered to Kamal Adwan Hospital but “our partners say the team was forced to offload the food at an Israeli military checkpoint before reaching the hospital, and only some of the medical supplies could be delivered to the facility”, Dujarric added.
Israeli forces destroy roof, upper floors of Kamal Adwan Hospital
Dr Hussam Abu Safia, the hospital’s director, said the building’s roof and upper floors were destroyed in the latest Israeli attack. The shelling, which began as doctors were resuscitating a wounded man, lasted three hours.
Eight Palestinians killed in Israeli attack on north Gaza
Our colleagues at Al Jazeera Arabic are reporting that an Israeli air attack on Jabalia al-Balad killed at least eight people and wounded several others. The Israeli aircraft targeted the home of the Jouda family, AJA added.
The attack comes shortly after Israeli bombardment in the neighbouring Beit Lahiya project killed at least eight Palestinians.
