A UNICEF statement on the crisis in Gaza was issued by Sigrid Kaag, regional director, Middle East and North Africa, on Monday warning that the Israeli invasion of Gaza was taking its toll on the children in the Strip, who are almost half the population. "The humanitarian crisis caused by the current violence in Gaza is hitting children and women the most. Children form over half of Gaza’s population of nearly 1.5 million and are bearing the brunt of the conflict. Being the most vulnerable part of the population, children are the first to be psychologically distressed, the most in need of medical support and the most exposed to injuries among civilians in times of conflict.As of 3 January 2009, 70 Palestinian children were killed and at least 650 injured, out of a tally of 550 deaths and 2800 injuries, according to data provided by the Palestinian Ministry of Health.
Gaza has been facing an 18-month long blockade which has resulted in the destruction of livelihoods and a significant deterioration of infrastructure and basic services.
The number of children in Gaza affected by the loss of a parent, damage to their home, displacement, lack of needed medical equipment and treatment and the interruption of their education is yet to be fully measured. But it is significant.
The children in Gaza are currently deprived not only of the basic human rights any human being should enjoy but are also denied the fundamental rights specific to children, to which the signatories of the Convention of the Right of the Child are duty bound. These include the right of children to be protected from all forms of physical or mental violence and injury, and the right to education, development and access to healthcare services.
The intensity of the current violence renders impossible any action to relieve their plight.
UNICEF reiterates its call for an immediate end to the violence and to allow humanitarian aid and relief efforts to be fully deployed.
UNICEF urges all parties to the conflict to abide by International Humanitarian Law to ensure that children are protected and receive essential humanitarian supplies and support.
Children should never be the silent victims and unheard voices of a conflict. Their long suffering must end."
In the mean time the health care committees in Gaza reported that Israeli warplanes bombed on Tuesday their central headquarters which included a specialized medical center in the Rimal neighborhood of Gaza city in addition to three mobile clinics and one ambulance.
In a press statement received by the PIC, the health committees added that the bombed mobile clinics were trucks equipped with medical equipment received few months ago from a Spanish humanitarian organization.
Dr. Nihad Al-Akhras, the head of the union of health care committees, said that the Israeli air raids on medical facilities in the Gaza Strip aim to destroy the infrastructure of the Palestinian people in Gaza and undermine their steadfastness.
Dr. Akhras appealed to the Red Cross and UN office for the coordination of humanitarian affairs to intervene to put an end to the killing of civilians and medical personnel in Gaza and to help the hospitals, medical centers and crew to fulfill their humanitarian duties.
Palestinian interior minister Sa'eed Siyam called on the Red Cross and the international human rights organizations to shoulder their responsibilities towards the protection of headquarters and crews of civil defense and medical care.
In a statement received by the PIC, Siyam said that Israel bombed most of the civil defense buildings and a number of fire trucks and ambulances.
In another statement received by the PIC, the Palestinian health ministry called on the Egyptian authorities to facilitate the entry of volunteer doctors to Gaza in addition to the humanitarian aid sent by Arab states.
In the same context, volunteer doctors and medical crews strongly criticized the Egyptian authorities for blocking their entry to Gaza over the past few days in order to provide Gaza people with medical care and assist in alleviating their tragedy.
Arab and Greek doctors stated that there are many workers in the medical field from Europe and around the world who expressed willingness to join the other volunteers as soon as the Egyptian authorities open the Rafah border crossing.
The Egyptian authorities have also refused to allow trucks carrying food and humanitarian aid into Gaza since the Israeli ground invasion started except for small quantities, which were handed manually through the main gate of the Rafah crossing.
In a press statement received by the PIC, the health committees added that the bombed mobile clinics were trucks equipped with medical equipment received few months ago from a Spanish humanitarian organization.
Dr. Nihad Al-Akhras, the head of the union of health care committees, said that the Israeli air raids on medical facilities in the Gaza Strip aim to destroy the infrastructure of the Palestinian people in Gaza and undermine their steadfastness.
Dr. Akhras appealed to the Red Cross and UN office for the coordination of humanitarian affairs to intervene to put an end to the killing of civilians and medical personnel in Gaza and to help the hospitals, medical centers and crew to fulfill their humanitarian duties.
Palestinian interior minister Sa'eed Siyam called on the Red Cross and the international human rights organizations to shoulder their responsibilities towards the protection of headquarters and crews of civil defense and medical care.
In a statement received by the PIC, Siyam said that Israel bombed most of the civil defense buildings and a number of fire trucks and ambulances.
In another statement received by the PIC, the Palestinian health ministry called on the Egyptian authorities to facilitate the entry of volunteer doctors to Gaza in addition to the humanitarian aid sent by Arab states.
In the same context, volunteer doctors and medical crews strongly criticized the Egyptian authorities for blocking their entry to Gaza over the past few days in order to provide Gaza people with medical care and assist in alleviating their tragedy.
Arab and Greek doctors stated that there are many workers in the medical field from Europe and around the world who expressed willingness to join the other volunteers as soon as the Egyptian authorities open the Rafah border crossing.
The Egyptian authorities have also refused to allow trucks carrying food and humanitarian aid into Gaza since the Israeli ground invasion started except for small quantities, which were handed manually through the main gate of the Rafah crossing.
The Shifa hospital in Gaza city, the biggest in the Gaza Strip, has appealed to the concerned international parties to supply the hospital with morgue fridge units after all its units were crammed with the growing number of bodies.
The hospital administration explained in a statement on Tuesday that the big number of martyrs whose relatives could not bury them due to the Israeli occupation forces' aggression and ensuing conditions.
Dr. Hussein Ashur, the director of the Shifa medical complex, said that there was no more space in those units and that the bodies were strewn on the floor in the rooms of those units.
He warned that the bodies might decompose if they continued in this state for longer periods outside the refrigerating units.
Dr. Ashur called on concerned international institutions to expedite supplying his hospital with those units before a "humanitarian disaster" occurs.
He noted that 40 martyrs were rushed to the hospital morgues in Monday only while 100 wounded mostly women and children were admitted into the hospital by noon.
The hospital administration explained in a statement on Tuesday that the big number of martyrs whose relatives could not bury them due to the Israeli occupation forces' aggression and ensuing conditions.
Dr. Hussein Ashur, the director of the Shifa medical complex, said that there was no more space in those units and that the bodies were strewn on the floor in the rooms of those units.
He warned that the bodies might decompose if they continued in this state for longer periods outside the refrigerating units.
Dr. Ashur called on concerned international institutions to expedite supplying his hospital with those units before a "humanitarian disaster" occurs.
He noted that 40 martyrs were rushed to the hospital morgues in Monday only while 100 wounded mostly women and children were admitted into the hospital by noon.
No comments:
Post a Comment