GENEVA: The UN health agency on Tuesday said Israel should let it stock medical supplies to deal with a "catastrophic" health situation in Gaza before it seizes control of Gaza City. Israel has said its military would "take control" of Gaza City in a plan approved by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's security cabinet that sparked a wave of global criticism. "We want to stock up and we all hear about 'more humanitarian supplies are allowed in' — well it's not happening yet, or it's happening at a way too low a pace", said Rik Peeperkorn, the World Health Organization's representative in the Palestinian territories.
Fifty-two per cent of medicines were running at zero stock, Peeperkorn said, speaking from Jerusalem. UN agencies warned last month that famine was unfolding in Gaza, with Israel severely restricting aid entry. Peeperkorn said the WHO was able to bring in fewer supplies than it wanted "due to the cumbersome procedures" and products "still denied" entry — a topic of constant negotiation with the Israeli authorities. "We want to as quickly stock up hospitals... following the news — the whole discussion about an incursion in Gaza", he said. "We currently cannot do that... We need to be able to get all essential medicines and medical supplies in".
Peeperkorn said only 50 per cent of hospitals and 38 per cent of primary health care centres were functioning and that too partially. Bed occupancy has reached 240 per cent capacity in the Al Shifa hospital and 300 per cent Al Ahli Hospital in northern Gaza. "The overall health situation remains catastrophic", he said. "Hunger and malnutrition continue to ravage Gaza". Peeperkorn said 148 people died from the effects of malnutrition this year, citing August 5 as the cut-off date.
Nearly 12,000 children aged under five were identified to be suffering from acute malnutrition in July — the highest monthly figure recorded to date in Gaza, Peeperkorn said. These include 2,562 children suffering from severe acute malnutrition, of whom 40 were hospitalised at stabilisation centres.
Meanwhile, Gaza's civil defence agency said Israeli air strikes on Gaza City have intensified in recent days, following Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's security cabinet approving plans to expand the war there. The Israeli government has not provided an exact timetable on when its forces would enter the area, but according to the civil defence agency spokesman Mahmud Bassal, air strikes on Gaza City have been increasing for the past three days.
Bassal said the residential neighbourhoods of Zeitoun and Sabra have been hit "with very heavy air strikes targeting civilian homes, possibly including high-rise buildings". "For the third consecutive day, the Israeli occupation is intensifying its bombardment", said the spokesman. "The Israeli occupation is using all types of weapons in that area — bombs, drones and also highly explosive munitions that cause massive destruction to civilian homes", he added. Bassal said that at least 24 people had been killed across Gaza on Tuesday, including several casualties caused by strikes on Gaza City. "The bombardment has been extremely intense for the past two days. With every strike, the ground shakes. There are martyrs under the rubble that no one can reach because the shelling hasn't stopped", said Majed al Hosary, a resident in Zeitoun.
Israel has faced mounting criticism over the 22-month-long war with Hamas, with United Nations-backed experts warning of widespread famine unfolding in besieged Gaza. Netanyahu is under mounting pressure to secure the release of the remaining hostages, as well as over his plans to expand the war, which he has vowed to do with or without the backing of Israel's allies. Israel's offensive has killed at least 61,499 Palestinians, according to the health ministry in Gaza, whose toll the United Nations considers reliable. — AFP
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