UN report: "No safe place in Gaza, no place to protect civilians"

Friday January 09, 2009 01:13 by Saed Bannoura - IMEMC & Agencies

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) issued a press release stating that the civilians in Gaza have no safe place to take shelter from the Israeli shelling and that UN schools and offices are not equipped as shelters.

"There is no safe place in Gaza, there are no shelters to protect the residents and borders are sealed, this war is unique in the way that the civilians have no place to go and no place to hide", the statement reads.

THE OCHA also said that UNRWA buildings, schools and offices have distinct marks on them and that the Israeli Army has been provided with the locations of these building, yet has still shelled them.

"UNRWA buildings are not shelters and cannot withstand shells", the OCHA statement added while  slamming the increasing number of civilian casualties, including children, in the ongoing Israeli offensive.

The OCHA also said that at least 101 children have been killed, and at least 1,000 other children wounded.  Also, hundreds of children are suffering from shock, panic attacks and psychological problems while the Israeli brutality continues.

The OCHA added that the need for humanitarian aid is rising in Gaza, and that the area requires ongoing supplies and services. Also, infrastructure in Gaza is damaged, streets are destroyed and residential buildings demolished.

OCHA also reported that the number of residents trapped in destroyed buildings is gradually increasing; they have no access to food or water and cannot leave as the Israeli tanks are advancing into their areas.

So far, 16,000 Palestinians are living in 26 shelters, the UNRWA received some donations, including a donation by the Red Cross of 2,500 blankets, 500 mattresses, 150 special bags for cleansing.

Before the current offensive, 80% of Gazans depended on international aid, 60% of them depended on food aid, and right now at least 50,000 residents have no power supply.

Hospitals in Gaza are still running their electrical equipment via generators for the fifth day, while fuel supplies are running out.  The fuel that hospitals currently have will not be sufficient to run their generators for a sufficient period of time.

"Al Shifa Hospital has only enough fuel to run their generators for three more days, the Gaza European Hospital can run on generators for seven days, Gaza children hospital can run on generators for the coming three days, the main generator at the Al Quds Hospital, which belongs to the Red crescent, has lost all power supply, and the hospital is now running on a small generator that can only be used to provide power to the ICU and the operations room.

The vast majority of patients, and even the medical personnel, cannot reach the hospitals due to ongoing Israeli shelling. At least 680,000 residents of the Central district, Khan Younis and Rafah, cannot reach Al Shifa hospital, and medication cannot make it to other areas of Gaza.

Wells and sewage pumps are not running due to the lack of power, resulting in Palestinians having no drinking water, no water to shower and hundreds of residents are walking in the streets carrying bottles searching desperately for a source of water.

The Israeli Army shelled hospital, ambulances, medical centers, universities, schools, mosques, residential buildings and several others areas as the soldiers have the free hand and the equipment to destroy as much infrastructure as is possible in the ongoing military operations over in within the Gaza Strip.

At least 760 Palestinians, mainly civilians, women and children, have been killed in the Israeli offensive, while at least 3,200 residents have been wounded, 500 of the wounded in critical condition.  Ten Israeli soldiers were killed and more than 120 were wounded during their invasion into the Gaza Strip.

The OCHA office said that 101 Palestinian Children were killed and at least 1,000 wounded, along with thousands of children suffering from shock and panic attacks.

------

In addition to providing enough surgical kits to care for 5,000 persons, and emergency health kits for 90 000 people for three months, the WHO is coordinating the entry of medical supplies into Gaza. The Organization is also working with UN agencies and Red Crescent societies to boost operational capacities on the Rafah border to ensure medical evacuations of critical patients, and to track medical relief items and donations.

From their operational bases in Gaza, Ramallah and Jerusalem, the WHO is strengthening outbreak investigation and control due to food and water-borne diseases. It is advocating that environmental health concerns, including sanitation and hygiene, among displaced populations are addressed. WHO teams are assisting medical personnel in responding to trauma and injuries, and establishing a coordination mechanism to ensure joint assessment of the health needs inside Gaza.

According to UNWRA, over 13,000 people have been displaced. Support services for health care, safe water, food, basic sanitation and hygiene for the displaced either do not exist, or are very limited. If hostilities do not cease, the numbers of displaced people can be expected to rise dramatically.

For both the displaced population and the general population, there is now a serious risk of outbreaks of communicable disease, such as acute respiratory infections, measles and acute watery diarrhoea, all of which have potential for high mortality among children. Mortality among expectant mothers and newborns can be expected to rise, and there will increasingly be cases of unmanaged chronic diseases and psychosocial conditions.

-----  UN statement

gaza strip | israeli attacks | news report saed at imemc dot org