AMN / UN NEWS
Shock and terror have returned in Gaza as Israeli bombardment resumed at the shattered enclave. The return to violence follows the end of a week-long pause in hostilities between Hamas militants and Israeli forces that allowed the delivery of desperately needed fuel, food and water, which people have been drinking as soon as it is given to them, humanitarians report.
As Secretary-General António Guterres spoke of his deep regret about the resumption of military operations in Gaza on Friday, UN humanitarians vowed to stay and help all those in need, while reiterating “nowhere is safe from attacks” in the war-shattered enclave.
The sound of shells exploding shortly after 7am Gaza time was clearly audible at Nasser hospital in the south, where terrified and traumatised youngsters immediately reacted by clinging to their mothers in fright, said James Elder from the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF).
“The bombs started just a few seconds after the ceasefire (ended),” Mr. Elder told journalists at UN Geneva via video link from Khan Younis, before decrying the “ongoing war on children”.
“As we approached Nasser hospital there had been a hit, a missile, a rocket, something…Children with the wounds of war are everywhere, children with the wounds of war are still in corridors. Hundreds of women and children take refuge in here. You walk out of ICU (intensive care unit) and there are families of five on a mattress for two.”
The return to violence follows the end of a week-long pause in hostilities between Hamas militants and Israeli forces that allowed the delivery of desperately needed fuel, food and water, which people have been drinking as soon as it is given to them, humanitarians report.
The pause also enabled the release of hostages taken during Hamas’s 7 October surprise attack on southern Israel and ensuing massacre of some 1,200 people, and the freeing of Palestinian prisoners held in Israel.
Gaza’s health authorities have reported more than 15,000 fatalities since the Israeli strikes began, with thousands of children believed buried under the rubble. The conflict has also created around 1,000 child amputees in recent weeks, Mr. Elder noted.
In an interview later in the day with UN News, Mr. Elder demonstrated the reality that nowhere is safe in Gaza, describing scenes of bombardment close by from his base in the southern city of Rafah.
He called on leaders involved in the conflict and with influence over the situation to understand that “enabling these attacks to begin again is to allow the killing of more and more children.”
UN chief leads new ceasefire appeal
Writing on X, formerly Twitter, UN Chief Guterres led calls for the warring sides to return to the negotiating table to agree on a long-lasting ceasefire to allow desperately needed aid into Gaza.
“I deeply regret that military operations have started again in Gaza,” he said. “I still hope that it will be possible to renew the pause that was established. The return to hostilities only shows how important it is to have a true humanitarian ceasefire.”
Hospital ‘like a horror movie’
Medical needs continue to far outstrip available care, the UN health agency has warned, with some 5,000 beds required but only around 1,500 to hand and only 51 out of 72 primary healthcare facilities now functional, said Dr Richard Peeperkorn, World Health Organization (WHO) Representative on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, speaking from Gaza.
“The Gaza health system has been crippled by the ongoing hostilities and I want to stress that we cannot afford to lose any more hospitals or hospital beds,” he said.
Dr. Peeperkorn also highlighted a study in the medical journal The Lancet that confirmed mortality statistics reported by the enclave’s health authorities in October. To date, more than 6,200 children have died, over 4,000 women and roughly 4,850 men, with over 36,000 injured, he said.