Wednesday 30 / April / 2025
Gaza : A spokesperson for the World Health Organization (WHO) has told DW that there has been an "unprecedented" scale of attacks on healthcare in the Gaza Strip.
Margaret Harris said staff at al-Shifa hospital were "terrified" and were dealing with "enormous numbers of injured people with no supplies."
Harris said there weren't enough beds at the hospital and that people were staying on the floor or in corridors of the building. She said healthcare workers are "in fear of their own lives while trying to save other lives."
Asked whether hospitals are being targeted by the Israeli military, Harris said: “We don't identify or assign blame, but we've seen more attacks on healthcare during this 4-week period than we've seen ever before. It's unprecedented. "
“Healthcare is never a target, that's very clear under international law,” she said.
Referring to humanitarian pauses, Harris said: “We have not seen a difference that is going to enable us to give sustained aid… that we need to provide.”
“We need a sustained humanitarian cease-fire in order to bring teams in, bring supplies in, and get people out,” she stressed. "This is not happening."
She said that the WHO managed to get some medical supplies to al-Shifa hospital on Tuesday, but no food, water or fuel.Several people were killed as strikes hit near hospitals in the Gaza Strip, according to the Hamas-led government. Meanwhile, the UN is urging Israel to open the Kerem Shalom crossing to allow aid in.
Saudi Arabia to host joint Islamic-Arab summit
Saudi Arabia will host an extraordinary joint Islamic-Arab summit in Riyadh on Saturday, its foreign ministry said late Friday.
The country, which was scheduled to host two extraordinary summits — the Organization of Islamic Cooperation summit and the Arab League summit — will replace them with a joint summit.
This meeting "will be held in response to the exceptional circumstances taking place in the Palestinian Gaza Strip as countries feel the need to unify efforts and come out with a unified collective position," the ministry said. Saudi crown prince calls for end to war in Gaza
Saudi Arabia's crown prince has called for an end to the war in Gaza, a stance that was echoed in a declaration with African leaders attending a summit in Riyadh.
“We condemn what the Gaza Strip is facing from military assault, targeting of civilians, the violations of international law by the Israeli occupation authorities,” Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman said during the African-Saudi summit in the kingdom’s capital.
“We stress the need to stop this war and the forced displacement of Palestinians,” he added in his first public comments since the conflict started.
The joint declaration from leaders at the summit voted “deep concern” about the humanitarian situation in Gaza and called for an end to military operations and for civilians to be protected.
Hundreds of thousands of Gaza residents have been displaced, and more than 11,000 have died, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry.
Leaders who attended the Riyadh summit included the presidents of Nigeria, Kenya, Zambia, Djibouti and Mauritania, the prime ministers of Ethiopia and Niger, and the foreign minister of Egypt.
Qatar's Emir visits Egypt for talks on ceasefire
The leaders of Qatar and Egypt have held talks in Cairo, with both seeking to mediate a de-escalation of violence in the Gaza Strip and increase humanitarian aid to the territory.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sissi and Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani discussed intensified efforts to bring about a cease-fire in Gaza and channel more aid to the territory's 2.3 million besieged residents, according to a statement from El-Sissi's office.
The two also "discussed the Israeli military escalation in the Gaza Strip and the subsequent regional challenges that push the region in dangerous and uncalculated directions," the statement said.
Besides Qatar, Egypt has also been involved in the hosting negotiations.
Macron reportedly urges Israel to stop bombing Gaza
French President Emmanuel Macron told the BBC Israel must stop bombing Gaza and killing civilians.
In an interview published late on Friday, the French leader said France "clearly condemns" the "terrorist" actions of Hamas, but that while recognizing Israel's right to protect itself, "we do urge them to stop this bombing" in Gaza.
“These babies, these ladies, these old people are bombed and killed. So there is no reason for that and no legitimacy. So we do urge Israel to stop,” the British broadcaster quoted Macron.
When asked if he wanted other leaders to join his calls for a ceasefire, Macron said, “I hope they will.”
In response, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said world leaders should be condemning Hamas, and not Israel.
“These crimes that Hamas (is) committing today in Gaza will be committed tomorrow in Paris, New York and anywhere in the world,” Netanyahu said.
WHO Chief outlines 'unimaginable conditions' in Gaza hospitals to UN Security Council
The health care system in the Gaza Strip is “on its knees,” the head of the World Health Organization told the UN Security Council.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the "situation on the ground was impossible to describe."
“Hospital corridors crammed with the injured, the sick, the dying, morgues overflowing, surgery without anesthesia, tens of thousands of displaced people sheltering at hospitals, families crammed into overcrowded schools, desperate for food and water,” he said.
Tedros was speaking at another emergency session of the Security Council, called by the United Arab Emirates, to focus on "the spiraling health crisis amidst continued attacks on hospitals."
“Half of the Gaza Strip's 36 hospitals and two-thirds of its primary health care centers are not functioning at all,” he said.
He called for a ceasefire to prevent deaths of civilians and further damage to Gaza's hospitals and health facilities.
He said health workers in the territory are "physically and mentally exhausted and are doing their best in unimaginable conditions."
Tedros said more than 10 800 people were killed in Gaza, almost 70% of them women and children.
“On average, a child is killed every 10 minutes in Gaza,” Tedros said.
