6/12/2023–|Last updated: 12/6/202311:31 AM (Mecca time)
Richard Peppercorn, the representative of the World Health Organization in the occupied Palestinian territories, said that one child is killed every 10 minutes in the Gaza Strip, which has been subjected to aggression by Israel since last October 7.
This came in a press conference held by Peppercorn yesterday, Tuesday, at the United Nations office in Geneva, Switzerland.
In this regard, he added: I believe that we are close to the darkest moment in human history. We need a permanent ceasefire in Gaza.
He explained that nearly 16,000 people have been killed in Gaza since last October 7, and that more than 60% of them are women and children.
The WHO representative also stated that the Israeli attacks also resulted in the injury of more than 42,000 people in the besieged Strip.
Peppercorn said that the situation in the Gaza Strip is getting worse every hour as Israel intensifies its bombing of the south around the cities of Khan Yunis and Rafah.
He explained that the humanitarian aid reaching Gaza is “very little” and that the World Health Organization is extremely concerned about the weakness of the health system in the densely populated Strip as more people move south to escape the bombing.
He went on to say, “We will witness the same pattern that happened in the north,” referring to an area north of Gaza that was subjected to heavy bombardment and almost cut off from humanitarian supplies.
A growing humanitarian catastrophe
The WHO representative added, “I want to make clear that we are facing an increasing humanitarian catastrophe.”
For his part, Thomas White, Director of the Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) in Gaza, said that orders were issued to more than 600,000 people to move from their places to escape the bombing.
White wrote on the
James Elder, spokesman for the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), said that the areas classified by Israel as safe in Gaza cannot meet basic needs, warning that the lack of sanitation and shelter creates an ideal environment for the spread of diseases.
“There (is) a safe zone when it guarantees the provision of food, water, medicine and shelter,” he told reporters via video link from Cairo after visiting Gaza.
“I saw for myself that these things do not exist at all,” Elder added.
He went on to say, “Only a ceasefire will save the children of Gaza now.”
Peppercorn returned to say that his organization carried out an Israeli order to remove supplies from warehouses in Khan Yunis. He added that the organization was informed that the area “will likely become an active battlefield in the coming days.”
He also said, “We want to make sure that we are actually able to deliver essential medical supplies.”
On the other hand, the Director-General of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, appealed to Israel the day before yesterday to withdraw this order. The latter denied that it had requested the warehouses to be evacuated.
