UN workers delivering aid to Gaza hospital describe ‘bloodbath’ in overflowing emergency department

UN workers delivering aid to Gaza hospital describe ‘bloodbath’ in overflowing emergency department

According to the team, Patients with trauma injuries were being sutured on the floor, limited to no pain management is available at the hospital, and the emergency department is so full that workers must take care not to step on patients on the floor.  Al-Shifa Hospital, formerly the most important and largest referral hospital in…

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'Desperate, hungry, terrified': Gazans stopping aid trucks in search of food

‘Desperate, hungry, terrified’: Gazans stopping aid trucks in search of food

Speaking later in the day at UN Headquarters, the deputy head of the UN World Food Programme (WFP), confirmed that following a food assessment, around half of all Gazans “are starving”, with no idea where their next meal is coming from. Briefing journalists in Geneva uon his return from Rafah governorate, Philippe Lazzarini, Commissioner-General of…

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Gaza fighting further compromises aid amid near ‘apocalyptic’ conditions: UN humanitarians

Gaza fighting further compromises aid amid near ‘apocalyptic’ conditions: UN humanitarians

In a joint statement 27 aid organisations including UN agencies and their partners issued a call for an immediate stop to the fighting, stressing that conditions in Gaza are “amongst the worst we have witnessed”.  Meanwhile on Thursday Israeli troops reportedly entered the southern Gaza town of Khan Younis, where hundreds of thousands of displaced…

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World News in Brief: WFP ‘pauses’ north Yemen food aid, human rights and sport, Myanmar latest

World News in Brief: WFP ‘pauses’ north Yemen food aid, human rights and sport, Myanmar latest

The region has been under the control of opposition Houthi forces since the internationally recognized Government were driven out of the city in 2015. WFP said that despite negotiating with the authorities for nearly a year to provide a more limited aid programme that would reach around 6.5 million in need, versus the current 9.5…

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Gaza: Aid access to north now entirely blocked amid escalating bombing raids in south

Gaza: Aid access to north now entirely blocked amid escalating bombing raids in south

The latest update from the UN aid coordination office, OCHA, confirmed rising casualties and devastation amid “heavy Israeli bombardment from air, land and sea”. “From the afternoon of (Saturday) 2 December to the afternoon of (Sunday) 3 December, at least 316 people were killed and at least another 664 injured in Gaza,” OCHA’s situation update…

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World News in Brief: Gaza aid, supporting Afghan returnees, end modern slavery, SDGs disabilities promise

World News in Brief: Gaza aid, supporting Afghan returnees, end modern slavery, SDGs disabilities promise

He said the UN was able to step up delivery of basic supplies into and across the Gaza Strip during the week-long pause in fighting, primarily through the Egyptian and Palestinian Red Crescent Societies. This included 630 metric tonnes of flour for 224,000 people in the south, and 63,000 blankets and mattresses.   “Cooking gas had…

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World News in Brief: South Sudan aid plan, rising cost of healthy eating, Europe’s diabetes burden

World News in Brief: South Sudan aid plan, rising cost of healthy eating, Europe’s diabetes burden

The conflict in neighbouring Sudan has had an impact on the country’s economy, increasing the prices of food and the number of vulnerable people who need assistance. It is estimated that 7.1 million people in South Sudan will continue to be food insecure during the lean season, which runs from April to July, while roughly…

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Gaza doctors ‘terrified’ of deadly disease outbreak as aid teams race to deliver

Gaza doctors ‘terrified’ of deadly disease outbreak as aid teams race to deliver

Priorities include transporting fuel to the north of the war-torn enclave, so that it can be used to power hospitals, provide clean water and maintain other vital civilian infrastructure. Such services have been massively impacted by weeks of Israeli bombardment in response to Hamas’s 7 October massacres in southern Israel that left some 1,200 dead…

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