WHO: How much blood is enough to satisfy political objectives in Gaza
‘We are breaking bodies and minds of children of Gaza’
The World Health Organization decried the horrifying situation unfolding in Gaza, with one top official saying, “How much blood is enough to satisfy whatever the political objectives are.”
“We have to ask ourselves: How much blood is enough to satisfy whatever the political objectives are,” the UN health agency’s emergencies director Mike Ryan told reporters in Geneva.
“We are breaking the bodies and the minds of the children of Gaza. We are starving the children of Gaza, because if we don’t do something about it we are complicit in what is happening.”
Israel strictly controls all inflows of international aid vital for the 2.4 million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
It halted aid deliveries to Gaza on March 2, days before the collapse of a cease-fire that had significantly reduced hostilities after 15 months of war.
Since the start of the blockade, the UN has repeatedly warned of the humanitarian catastrophe on the ground, with famine again looming.
Supplies are dwindling and the UN’s World Food Programme (WFP) last Friday said it had sent out its “last remaining food stocks” to kitchens.
Ryan pointed to the more than 1,000 children in Gaza that have missing limbs, saying, “Thousands of children with spinal cord injuries, with severe head injuries from which they’ll never recover” and psychological conditions.
“We are watching this unfold before our very eyes, and we’re not doing anything about it.”
Addressing the other WHO experts and journalists gathered at the agency’s Geneva headquarters, Ryan said “I’m angry.”
“As a physician, I’m angry with myself that I’m not doing enough. I’m angry with everyone here.”
“This cannot continue... This is an abomination.”
A baby girl identified as Janan Saleh al-Sakafi died of malnutrition and dehydration in the Rantisi Hospital, west of Gaza City, more than two months after the start of Israel’s blockade on the Gaza Strip, according to Al Jazeera.
Gaza’s Government Media Office says at least 57 Palestinians have starved to death in the enclave due to the blockade, urging the international community to take action to secure the reopening of the borders.