OCHA warns denial of lifesaving medical supplies, equipment ‘threat to Gaza hospitals’

Anjali Sharma

GG News Bureau
UNITED NATIONS, 11th Jan. UN humanitarian and coordination office in New York on Wednesday has warned that repeated refusals by Israeli authorities to allow UN aid teams to deliver humanitarian relief inside Gaza have effectively cut off 5 hospitals in the north from access to “lifesaving medical supplies and equipment”.

OCHA said that requests had been denied 5 times since 26 December to reach the Central Drug Store in Gaza city and Al Awda Hospital in Jabalya, further north after new reports of intensified bombing and clashes across the Gaza on Wednesday, .

It noted in its latest update issued on the impact of war in Gaza, that “At the same time, the continued denial of fuel delivery to water and sanitation facilities is leaving tens of thousands of people without access to clean water and increasing the risk of sewage overflows, significantly heightening the risk of the spread of communicable diseases”.

According to the WHO, 15 out of Gaza’s 36 hospitals remain “partially functional”: 9 in the south and 6 in the north. UN and health partners have provided healthcare and medical services to an estimated 500,000 people.

OCHA said that the development came as much of the central and southern Gaza areas in Deir al Balah and Khan Younis governorates, experienced further “intense” Israeli bombardment from the air, land and sea in the past 24 hours.

It reported that rocket fire into Israel by Palestinian armed groups continued, along with ongoing clashes between Israeli soldiers and militants in Deir al Balah and Khan Younis governorates.

OCHA cited the health authorities in Gaza noted that 126 Palestinians had been killed between the afternoons of 8 and 9 January; 241 were reportedly injured.

The total estimated number of fatalities is 23,210 Palestinians killed and 59,167 injured from Israeli bombardment that intensified in response to Hamas-led terror attacks in southern Israel on 7 October, left 1,200 dead including 36 children and 240 people taken hostage.

OCHA said “The Israeli authorities estimate that about 136 Israelis and foreign nationals remain captive in Gaza”.

It said that the ongoing Israeli offensive has resulted in “many” deadly incidents with “devastating consequences for tens of thousands of civilians.”

OCHA noted that many had fled Gaza City and the north to central and southern areas of the Strip.

It stated that 5 year-old child of a Médecins Sans Frontières worker died of her injuries after a MSF shelter in Khan Younis was hit.

In Deir al Balah, 4 people were killed and dozens injured when a house northwest of the city was targeted.

UN office reported that between 8 and 9 January, 9 Israeli soldiers have been killed in Gaza, with 183 killed since the start of the ground operation and 1,065 personnel injured, cited the Israeli military.

UN humanitarians reiterated warnings about the growing risk of disease in the southern city of Rafah, as yet more civilians flee hostilities after Israeli evacuation orders.

Rafah was home to 280,000 people before the war, but it has a population of  one million, the UN relief agency for Palestinians said in a post on X.

“Overcrowded streets witness alarming spread of disease”, but staff are “overwhelmed by the ever-increasing need”, the UNWRA said.

According to UNWRA more than three months of violence, 85 per cent of Gaza’s population is believed to be displaced some 1.9 million people.

It give shelter to 1.4 million people in 155 UNRWA facilities across all five governorates but facilities “are far exceeding their intended capacity”.

UNWRA installations have received 63 direct hits, it said, with 319 displaced people killed in the agency’s shelters and over 1,135 injured since 7 October.

OCHA reported that on 9 January, 131 trucks with supplies entered the Gaza through the Rafah and Kerem Shalom crossings.