Guterres calls parties to stop cycle of retaliation in Middle East as Israel hit Iran

Anjali Sharma

GG News Bureau
UNITED NATIONS, 20th April. UN chief António Guterres on Friday issued a new appeal to all parties to “stop the dangerous cycle of retaliation in the Middle East” after the reports of alleged Israeli air strikes inside Iran near a nuclear power station.

UN spokesman’s office in New York issued a statement said “The Secretary-General condemns any act of retaliation and appeals to the international community to work together to prevent any further development that could lead to devastating consequences for the entire region and beyond.”

UN nuclear watch dog agency IAEA head Rafael Grossi echoed those concerns urged “extreme restraint” from all sides, after more than six and a half months of war in Gaza that have fuelled fears of a wider regional conflict.

“IAEA can confirm that there is no damage to Iran’s nuclear sites” and Director-General Grossi “continues to call for extreme restraint from everybody and reiterates that nuclear facilities should never be a target in military conflicts”, the IAEA said in a tweet after unconfirmed media reports that possible drone strikes had targeted the Iranian province of Isfahan, which is home to nuclear facilities and military garrisons.

UN human rights office, OHCHR, urged all parties “to take steps to de-escalate the situation” rapidly.

OHCHR spokesperson Jeremy Laurence said “(We) call on third States, in particular those with influence, to do all in their power to ensure there is no further deterioration in an already extremely precarious situation”.

In Gaza, aid teams offered new insight into the dangers faced by Palestinian civilians pregnant women and breastfeeding mothers as a result of the “wanton destruction” of vital medical equipment and widespread “dehydration, malnutrition and fear” among Palestinians, UNFPA reported.

Dominic Allen, Representative for the UN sexual and reproductive health agency for Palestine said that there were indications that the number of complicated births is nearly twice what it was before war erupted.

“There is absolutely an increase in the numbers,” he said.

He added that pre-war 15 per cent of births required some form of emergency obstetric care. Today, some doctors have reported “a doubling of what they previously had dealt with, and this is due to malnutrition, dehydration and fear, which impact the pregnant woman’s ability to give birth safely and carry their baby to full term safely,” he said.

Mr. Allen described his latest mission to Gaza to assess the impact of Israeli attacks on healthcare at embattled hospitals in the north, central and southern governorates.

It was clear that the last remaining hospitals in Gaza including its second largest, Nasser Hospital are “clinging to life themselves whilst they are a lifeline for the pregnant women of Gaza”, Mr. Allen said via video link from Jerusalem.

“What I saw, it breaks my heart. It’s indescribable. What we see there is medical equipment, purposefully broken, ultrasounds which you will know is a very important tool for helping ensure safe births – with cables that have been cut, screens of complex medical equipment like ultrasounds and other with the screens smashed. So, purposeful  wanton destruction in the maternity ward.”

Nasser Hospital in the southern city of Khan Younis had a maternity ward which UNFPA teams have supported and supplied for years before the war erupted.

Mr. Allen said that in order to be fully functional again, the hospital will need reconditioned water and sanitation services and repairs to damaged electricity generators, at a bare minimum.

“But, I stood beside the warehouse (where) we delivered supplies many months ago and it was literally burning; there’s so much work to do in terms of trying to re-establish that lifeline,” Mr. Allen said.

UNFPA mission began on Monday 8 April and ended this Wednesday, was carried out in partnership with the WHO, OCHA, and the UNRWA.

The objective was to visit 10 hospitals in Gaza, including Al Aqsa Hospital in central Gaza, which was “overwhelmed with trauma patients” and not supporting maternity care.

Mr. Allen recounted meeting the medical director of the facility who said that “he no longer sees normal-sized babies.” at Emirati Hospital in the south of the enclave

He underscored the “great sense of fear” of Israeli incursion hanging over 1.2 million people sheltering inside Rafah.

“There is a palpable fear from the Gazans who I spoke with the midwives, doctors, pregnant women, my fellow colleagues, who are in Gaza. Right now it’s a haven for 1.2 million Gazans; it’s not a safe haven, but it’s a haven at least,” he concluded.