WHO chief calls on Israel to provide access for humanitarian aid in Gaza
In a press conference, the World Health Organization (WHO) director general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, has said there are nearly “insurmountable obstacles” to delivering humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip, saying the situation was “indescribable”.
He said six planned missions to northern Gaza had been cancelled because Israel had rejected requests and not given assurances of safe passage, adding that a mission planned for today had also had to be cancelled.
He said:
Intense bombardment, restrictions on movement, a fuel shortage and interrupted communications make it impossible for WHO and our partners to reach those in need.
We have the supplies, the teams and the plans in place. What we don’t have is access.
WHO has had to cancel six planned missions to northern Gaza since 26 December, when we had our last mission, because our requests were rejected, and assurances of safe passage were not provided.
A mission planned for today has also been cancelled.
The barrier to delivering humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza is not the capabilities of the UN, WHO, or our partners. The barrier is access.
We call on Israel to approve requests by WHO and other partners to deliver humanitarian aid.
Saying that the situation on the ground was “indescribable”, Tedros said:
Almost 90% of the population of Gaza – 1.9 million people – have been displaced, and many have been forced to move multiple times.
People are standing in line for hours for a small amount of water, which may not be clean. Or bread, which alone is not sufficiently nutritious.
Only 15 hospitals are functioning, even partially.
The lack of clean water and sanitation and overcrowded living conditions are creating the ideal environment for disease to spread.
Tedros finished his comments about the conflict in Gaza and Israel with an appeal for peace, and for all parties in the conflict to respect healthcare provision and facilities, saying:
We continue to call for a ceasefire, but even without one, corridors can be established to allow the safe passage of humanitarian aid and workers.
We continue to call for the release of the remaining hostages.
And we continue to call on all sides to protect health care in accordance with their obligations under international humanitarian law.
Health care must always be protected and respected.
It cannot be attacked and it cannot be militarised.
Earlier today, Israeli government spokesperson Eylon Levy on social media accused WHO of being “complicit” with Hamas and covering up that Hamas had converted hospitals in Gaza into military bases, a claim which Israel has repeatedly made and which Hamas denies.
Hamas converted Gaza’s hospitals into military bases, with the complicity of the @WHO that’s covering it up.
We’re committed to helping international actors set up field hospitals in Gaza where Hamas can’t hide.
Civilians must be protected from Hamas. https://t.co/FWDXdvQEPo
— Eylon Levy (@EylonALevy) January 10, 2024
Yesterday, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) said Israel struck a shelter that over 100 staff and their families were using, causing injuries to four people including a five-year-old child of one of the staff members, who subsequently died of her injuries.
MSF said “that it doesn’t matter where you are in Gaza, nowhere is safe,” and reiterated a call for an immediate and sustained ceasefire.
Key events
Here is more information on the latest Houthi rebel attack and the upcoming UN security council vote, from Nicola Slawson for the Guardian.
Yemen’s Houthi rebels fired one of their largest barrages of drones and missiles targeting shipping in the Red Sea, forcing the American and British navies to shoot down the projectiles in a major engagement, authorities said today.
No damage or injuries were immediately apparent.
The attack by the Iran-backed Houthis came despite a planned UN security council vote later today to potentially condemn and demand an immediate halt to the attacks by the rebels, who say their assaults are aimed at stopping Israel’s war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
However, their targets have increasingly tenuous or no relationship with Israel and imperil one of the world’s crucial trade routes linking Asia and the Middle East to Europe. That raises the risk of a US retaliatory strike on Yemen that could upend an uneasy ceasefire that has held in the Arab world’s poorest country…
Read the full article here.
The United Nations security council will be voting on a resolution to demand that attacks by Yemen’s Houthi rebels against ships in the Red Sea stop, the Associated Press reported.
More from AP:
The U.S. draft resolution, obtained by The Associated Press, says at least two dozen Houthi attacks are impeding global commerce “and undermine navigational rights and freedoms as well as regional peace and security.”
U.S. Deputy Ambassador Robert Wood told reporters Wednesday ahead of the vote that the purpose of the resolution is to send a message that attacking commercial shipping is unacceptable and must stop. “Freedom of navigation, freedom of commercial activity on the seas is critically important to commerce and to national security of a number of states,” he said.
“We’re hoping that it will pass,” he said, “I don’t know how … one Security Council member is going to vote.”
Wood was referring to Russia, which raised questions last week about the impact of a resolution on peace efforts in Yemen and the spread of the Israel-Hamas war. It could abstain or veto the resolution.
In a separate statement, the Egyptian president, Fatah al-Sisi, said that the international community must take a “decisive stance” on a ceasefire in Gaza in order to get more aid to Palestinians.
His comments on Wednesday come after al-Sisi met with leaders from Jordan and the Palestinian Authority in Jordan’s city of Aqaba over Israel’s ongoing bombardment of Palestine.
The three leaders said they rejected all proposals attempting to “[liquidate] the Palestinian cause”.
The leaders of Jordan and Egypt have said that pressure must be added to demand Israel end its “aggression” against Gaza and its civilians, Reuters reported.
In a statement, Jordan’s King Abdullah and Egyptian President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi said they did not support any plan from Israel that would separate the fate of Gaza from the that of the West Bank.
Both leaders attended a meeting with Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas.
Israel’s war cabinet is reportedly discussing a new proposal from Qatar over the release of hostages being held by Hamas.
From journalist Amichai Stein:
Israel War cabinet will discuss a new Qatari proposal regarding the release of hostages held by Hamas
Israel War cabinet will discuss a new Qatari proposal regarding the release of hostages held by Hamas
— Amichai Stein (@AmichaiStein1) January 10, 2024
Four employees with the Palestine Red Crescent’s ambulance crew were killed after Israel targeted an ambulance in the city of Deir al-Balah in Gaza, the Palestine Red Crescent Society said in a statement.
The humanitarian organization posted the update to X, formerly known as Twitter.
The statement read:
Four members of the Palestine Red Crescent ambulance crews martyred due to the targeting by the occupation of an ambulance vehicle on Salah al-Din Street at the entrance of Deir al-Balah in the middle of the Gaza Strip.
🚨Four members of the Palestine Red Crescent ambulance crews 🚑martyred due to the targeting by the occupation of an ambulance vehicle on Salah al-Din Street at the entrance of Deir al-Balah in the middle of the Gaza Strip.#NotATarget ❌#IHl#Gaza
— PRCS (@PalestineRCS) January 10, 2024
Motaz Azaiza, a photojournalist with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees, wrote on X that Israel “bombed” the ambulance carrying the four healthcare workers.
Israel just killed 4 of my colleagues in the Palestine Red Crescent while they was doing their job by bombing the ambulance they were riding
Israel just killed 4 of my colleagues in the Palestine Red Crescent while they was doing their job by bombing the ambulance they were riding
— MoTaz (@azaizamotaz9) January 10, 2024
Antony Blinken shared an update about his meeting with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in a post to X, formerly known as Twitter.
Met with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to discuss ongoing efforts to minimize civilian harm in Gaza, accelerate the delivery of humanitarian aid, end extremist violence, and work towards an independent Palestinian state.
Met with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to discuss ongoing efforts to minimize civilian harm in Gaza, accelerate the delivery of humanitarian aid, end extremist violence, and work towards an independent Palestinian state. pic.twitter.com/c60d5ISLnT
— Secretary Antony Blinken (@SecBlinken) January 10, 2024
The latest update comes as sources inside the meeting described a tense atmosphere “marred by quarrels”.
One source of conflict between the two parties is Israel’s ongoing refusal to release tax money to the Palestinian Authority on imports and exports.
WHO chief calls on Israel to provide access for humanitarian aid in Gaza
In a press conference, the World Health Organization (WHO) director general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, has said there are nearly “insurmountable obstacles” to delivering humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip, saying the situation was “indescribable”.
He said six planned missions to northern Gaza had been cancelled because Israel had rejected requests and not given assurances of safe passage, adding that a mission planned for today had also had to be cancelled.
He said:
Intense bombardment, restrictions on movement, a fuel shortage and interrupted communications make it impossible for WHO and our partners to reach those in need.
We have the supplies, the teams and the plans in place. What we don’t have is access.
WHO has had to cancel six planned missions to northern Gaza since 26 December, when we had our last mission, because our requests were rejected, and assurances of safe passage were not provided.
A mission planned for today has also been cancelled.
The barrier to delivering humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza is not the capabilities of the UN, WHO, or our partners. The barrier is access.
We call on Israel to approve requests by WHO and other partners to deliver humanitarian aid.
Saying that the situation on the ground was “indescribable”, Tedros said:
Almost 90% of the population of Gaza – 1.9 million people – have been displaced, and many have been forced to move multiple times.
People are standing in line for hours for a small amount of water, which may not be clean. Or bread, which alone is not sufficiently nutritious.
Only 15 hospitals are functioning, even partially.
The lack of clean water and sanitation and overcrowded living conditions are creating the ideal environment for disease to spread.
Tedros finished his comments about the conflict in Gaza and Israel with an appeal for peace, and for all parties in the conflict to respect healthcare provision and facilities, saying:
We continue to call for a ceasefire, but even without one, corridors can be established to allow the safe passage of humanitarian aid and workers.
We continue to call for the release of the remaining hostages.
And we continue to call on all sides to protect health care in accordance with their obligations under international humanitarian law.
Health care must always be protected and respected.
It cannot be attacked and it cannot be militarised.
Earlier today, Israeli government spokesperson Eylon Levy on social media accused WHO of being “complicit” with Hamas and covering up that Hamas had converted hospitals in Gaza into military bases, a claim which Israel has repeatedly made and which Hamas denies.
Hamas converted Gaza’s hospitals into military bases, with the complicity of the @WHO that’s covering it up.
We’re committed to helping international actors set up field hospitals in Gaza where Hamas can’t hide.
Civilians must be protected from Hamas. https://t.co/FWDXdvQEPo
— Eylon Levy (@EylonALevy) January 10, 2024
Yesterday, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) said Israel struck a shelter that over 100 staff and their families were using, causing injuries to four people including a five-year-old child of one of the staff members, who subsequently died of her injuries.
MSF said “that it doesn’t matter where you are in Gaza, nowhere is safe,” and reiterated a call for an immediate and sustained ceasefire.
Tomorrow will see South Africa take its genocide case against Israel to the United Nations’ top court, the international court of justice (ICJ).
Associated Press reports that South Africa’s delegation to The Hague will be led by the minister of justice, Ronald Lamola, and will also include senior figures from the office of president, Cyril Ramaphosa.
“We are determined to see the end of the genocide that is currently taking place in Gaza,” Lamola said.
South Africa’s decision to open a case against Israel is a reflection of its historic support for the Palestinians that dates back to the days of the late anti-apartheid leader Nelson Mandela.
Mandela compared the plight of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank with that of Black South Africans under the apartheid system of forced racial segregation in his own country, which ended in 1994. South Africa has for years referred to Israel as an “apartheid state.”
Reuters notes that in a 84-page filing, South Africa cites Israel’s failure to provide essential food, water, medicine, fuel, shelter and other humanitarian assistance to the Gaza Strip. It also points to the sustained bombing campaign which has destroyed hundreds of thousands of houses of civilians.
A panel of 17 judges, including one ad hoc justice each from Israel and South Africa, will hear three hours of arguments from each side. A ruling on the provisional measures was expected later this month. The ICJ’s rulings are binding but the court has no way to enforce them.
Israeli government spokesperson Eylon Levy dismissed South Africa’s on Wednesday, describing it as an “absurd blood libel” and claiming that “Pretoria gives political and legal cover to the Hamas rapist regime”.
A different court in The Hague, the international criminal court (ICC), is separately investigating alleged atrocities in Gaza and the West Bank and the 7 October attacks in Israel, but has not named any suspects. Israel is not a member of the ICC and rejects its jurisdiction.
Robert Mardini, director of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), has told Al Jazeera: “The medical supplies in the Gaza Strip are absolutely insufficient to provide relief to the wounded and sick. Hospitals in northern Gaza are no longer able to provide any surgical services.”
The World Health Organization has assessed that only 15 out of Gaza’s 36 hospitals are partially functional. The Gaza health ministry, which is run by Hamas, has said that nearly 60,000 Palestinians have been injured in Israeli airstrikes since 7 October.
Sky News Arabia is reporting that sources have told it that the meeting between Antony Blinken and Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah in the Isreali-occupied West Bank was “tense and marred by quarrels”.
It suggests that one of the sources of the dispute was Israel’s failure to release tax money to the Palestinian Authority, with Abbas arguing that if the US was unable to apply pressure to remedy this situation, it could not be expected to able to pressure Israel about anything else.
Israel collects tax revenues on behalf of the Palestinian Authority on imports and exports, but the money has recently been withheld. Israeli finance minister Bezalel Smotrich has said he would not allow “even one shekel” to be passed on to Gaza via the Palestinian Authority.
Saleh Salem of Reuters has been speaking to children in Gaza displaced by the war and reports that three months of war have been devastating for them. Health authorities in the Hamas-run territory have estimated that about 40% of those confirmed killed – a figure they now put at 23,357 – were aged under 18.
Most of those who survive have lost their homes. They live in shelters in schools, in tents or shanties, or crammed into still-standing houses, whole families living in single rooms. With very little food in Gaza, children are always hungry.
“We are still unable to count the numbers, but we have initial estimates of thousands of orphans. The figures are high and the challenges are big,” said Ahmed Majdalani, the Palestinian social development minister in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, told Reuters.
The hardship – and fear in a conflict where intense Israeli bombing of civilian areas continues relentlessly – is made worse by their sadness. Seven-year-old Laila al-Sultan described a father she loved “as much as there are fish and skies and everything”, who used to take her to the park and the zoo.
“My father was martyred … my uncle Awad was martyred as well as my uncles Ibrahim, Suhaib and Baha. All of us were injured, and here I am, with a leg injury,” she told Reuters. Her father was killed in the same Israeli airstrike that injured her leg.
She and her brother Khaled, four, now live in a tent city of homeless people, facing up to a life with no father as their mother struggles to cope in the rubble of the ruined territory.
In another tent in Rafah, Ahmed al-Saker, 13, cried as he stoked a fire under a cooking pot and recalled his father, killed in a strike on their house. “He used to sing to me at bedtime and hug me and hold me before I slept,” he said, wiping away tears.
“My mother cannot bear all these worries and burdens and she can’t carry my injured brother on her own,” he said.
