DayofPal– Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories, has warned that “the entire population of Gaza is at risk of dying in a genocide that has been announced and executed under our watch”, in a post on X.
Albanese was responding to an earlier statement from the UN humanitarian chief Joyce Msuya warning that “the entire population of North Gaza is at risk of dying” due to Israel’s siege and assaults.
“What Israeli forces are doing in besieged north Gaza cannot be allowed to continue,” said Joyce Msuya, acting Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and UN Emergency Relief Coordinator, in a statement posted on X.
Hospitals have been hit, health workers detained and first responders prevented from rescuing people trapped under the rubble, she noted.
“Shelters have been emptied and burned down…families have been separated, and men and boys taken away by the truckload,” she added.
About 1000 Palestinians have been killed since Israeli occupation forces renewed their offensive in northern Gaza earlier this month. Additionally, tens of thousands of people have been displaced again.
“The entire population of north Gaza is at risk of dying,” Ms. Msuya warned, adding that “Such blatant disregard for basic humanity and for the laws of war must stop.”
In a post on X, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, also voiced deep concern over the situation describing it as “catastrophic” and highlighting the severe impact on healthcare.
“Intensive military operations unfolding around and within healthcare facilities and a critical shortage of medical supplies, compounded by severely limited access, are depriving people of life saving care,” he said.
He also noted that although the siege at Kamal Adwan Hospital – one of the last minimally functioning hospitals in the north – has ended, “but it came at a heavy cost.”
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.
For over a year, Gaza’s entire health system has faced relentless attacks. The WHO emphasizes the critical importance of protecting hospitals from the ravages of war.
Attacking healthcare facilities is not just a tragedy; it is a blatant violation of international humanitarian law that must not be overlooked, Tedros concluded as he called for a ceasefire to safeguard “what remains of Gaza’s collapsing healthcare system”.
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