The spokesman for UN chief Antonio Guterres told AlJazeera Israel is continuing to refuse the delivery of aid to the northern Gaza Strip, amid an ongoing Israeli siege and intense bombardment.
Stephane Dujarric said during a news conference that the majority of UN-led aid missions to northern Gaza trying to reach the besieged areas in Beit Lahiya, Beit Hanoon and parts of Jabalia had been rejected.
The UN attempted to reach these besieged areas 40 times, of which 38 attempts were denied and two were obstructed.
Dujarric urged Israel to meet the “essential needs” of civilians in the north and facilitate the delivery of humanitarian aid.
Last month, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
Staff at Kamal Adwan Hospital describe night of ‘horror’ amid Israel’s attack
Eid Sabbah, the director of nursing at Kamal Adwan Hospital, described a night “full of horror” at the facility in northern Gaza, as Israeli bulldozers advanced and quadcopter drones fired at the medical compound and surrounding buildings.
“They targeted the Battah family home in the vicinity of the hospital. Fifteen bodies arrived at the hospital including six people from the Battah family,” Sabbah told Al Jazeera.
“Many have been wounded and many are still under the rubble.”
Sabbah said the Israeli attack on the hospital’s ICU filled the rooms with black dust, as staff evacuated four patients on ventilators. Centralised oxygen remained unavailable and the few cylinders left were about to run out.
He added that 74 injured patients were present at the hospital and were being treated “in a very primitive way” due to the lack of resources.
International medical team denied deployment at Kamal Adwan Hospital: WHO
The World Health Organization (WHO) says an international medical team urgently needed at Kamal Adwan Hospital has not been allowed to deploy as Israel continues its siege in northern Gaza.
Hanan Balkhy, WHO regional director for the Eastern Mediterranean, also condemned the repeated attacks on the medical facility. “The fear endured by the hospital’s staff and patients in recent days is indescribable – and unacceptable,” she wrote on X.
The representative for the UN health agency said the hospital was without surgical or maternal care capacity.
WHO was instead able to deliver supplies to al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, Balkhy said.
