UN agencies voice anger at Gaza hospital attacks, depravation

[December 19, 2023]  GENEVA (Reuters) -U.N. officials voiced anger and disbelief on Tuesday about the situation in Gaza hospitals, where injured people do not have basic supplies and children recovering from amputations are being killed in the ongoing conflict.

Most of Gaza's hospitals are no longer operating due to damage in attacks, Israeli raids and lack of fuel and staff. Those still open are under growing pressure due to both strikes and growing numbers of sick and injured patients arriving.   

Palestinians inspect damages following an Israeli raid at Kamal Adwan hospital, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, in the northern Gaza Strip December 16, 2023. REUTERS/Fadi Alwhidifa/File Photo

"I'm furious that children who are recovering from amputations in hospitals are then killed in those hospitals," said James Elder, spokesperson for the U.N. children's agency.

He added that the Nasser Hospital, the largest operational hospital left in the enclave where he spent time earlier this month, had been shelled twice in the past 48 hours. He said one of the victims was a 13-year-old amputee named Dina who survived a strike on her home that killed her family.

"So where do children and families go? They're not safe in hospitals, they're not safe in shelters, and they're certainly not safe in so-called safe zones," he said.

Margaret Harris, World Health Organization spokesperson, described the situation in Gaza hospitals as "unconscionable".

"The very basics, they do not have them. One of my colleagues described people lying on the floor in severe pain, in agony, but they weren't asking for pain relief. They were asking for water," she said. "It's beyond belief that the world is allowing this to continue."

(Reporting by Emma Farge; Editing by Miranda Murray and Hugh Lawson)

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