WHO accuses Israel of hindering medical rescue missions to Nasser hospital, says destruction is ‘indescribable’
The World Health Organization (WHO) has issued a lengthy statement on social media this morning describing a mission to transfer patients within the Gaza Strip, and reporting that its staff said “the destruction around Nasser hospital was ‘indescribable’”. It accused Israel of hindering and refusing its attempts to provide medical services to Gaza’s population.
In the statement WHO said:
Who led two life-saving missions to transfer 32 critical patients, including two children, from Nasser medical complex in southern Gaza on 18 and 19 February.
The transfer of patients was requested by the hospital staff after the facility became non-functional following a military raid on 14 February, after a week-long siege. Weak and frail patients were transferred amidst active conflict near the aid convoy.
Nasser hospital has no electricity or running water, and medical waste and garbage are creating a breeding ground for disease. WHO staff said the destruction around the hospital was ‘indescribable.’ The area was surrounded by burnt and destroyed buildings, heavy layers of debris, with no stretch of intact road. An estimated 130 sick and injured patients and at least 15 doctors and nurses remain inside the hospital.
Prior to the missions, WHO received two consecutive denials to access the hospital for medical assessment, causing delays in urgently needed patient referral. Reportedly, at least five patients died in the Intensive Care Unit before any missions or transfers were possible.
It goes on to say that due to “unforgiving road conditions” a team had attempted to reach the complex on foot. It said, having reached the Nasser medical complex with an engineer:
They were only permitted to examine the generator, which had ceased functioning after running out of fuel. During both missions, senior WHO staff clearly identified themselves upon entering the hospital compound and requested approval to assess patients and evaluate hospital functionality. These requests were denied.
On the condition of the hospital, WHO says:
The hospital’s large medical warehouse, along with supplies provided by WHO and partners, has burnt down, and the warehouse for day-to-day medical supplies is partly damaged.
The statement finishes by saying:
WHO repeats its calls for the protection of patients, health workers, health infrastructure, and civilians. Hospitals must not be militarized, misused, or attacked.
.@WHO led two life-saving missions to transfer 32 critical patients, including two children, from Nasser Medical Complex in southern Gaza on 18 and 19 February, amid ongoing hostilities and access restrictions. The high-risk missions were conducted in close partnership with the… pic.twitter.com/YBuy3bemn2
— WHO in occupied Palestinian territory (@WHOoPt) February 20, 2024
Key events
Kiran Stacey
The UK opposition Labour party has called for “an immediate humanitarian ceasefire” in Gaza for the first time.
This weekend, party leader Keir Starmer said he wanted the fighting to “stop now”, but he has been reluctant to back an immediate and permanent ceasefire given that Hamas has threatened to carry out further attacks as it did on 7 October.
A Labour amendment to a Scottish National Party motion which will be voted on in Westminster tomorrow calls for “an immediate humanitarian ceasefire, which means an immediate stop to the fighting and a ceasefire that lasts and is observed by all sides, noting that Israel cannot be expected to cease fighting if Hamas continues with violence and that Israelis have the right to the assurance that the horror of 7 October cannot happen again”.
It also calls on the Israelis not to enter Rafah, where 1.5 million people are sheltered, for aid to be allowed to enter Gaza, for settler violence to end and for a diplomatic effort towards a two-state solution.
Read more here: UK opposition Labour party calls for ‘immediate humanitarian ceasefire’ in Gaza
French warships in the Red Sea have intercepted and destroyed two drones in overnight attacks coming from Yemen, Reuters reports the French defence ministry said on Tuesday.
Patrick Wintour
Patrick Wintour, the Guardian’s diplomatic editor, offers this analysis of the latest diplomatic moves at the UN, in the EU, in the UK and beyond to seek an end to the fighting in Gaza:
In New York at the UN, in Brussels at the EU, in The Hague, in Cairo, in Rio and even at Westminster, a set of subtle and interrelated diplomatic dances are under way.
Israel’s foremost supporters are attempting to apply the squeeze on their ally while avoiding making undiluted calls for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza they fear would leave a battered Hamas in charge, its leadership at large.
First coined jointly by the UK foreign secretary, David Cameron and the German foreign minister, Annalena Baerbock, “sustainable ceasefire” is a critical phrase in the diplomatic debate. As defined by Lord Cameron, it means Hamas no longer posing a security threat to Israel, which logically entails the removal of the current Hamas leadership from Gaza.
Read more of Patrick Wintour’s analysis: Key allies seek to rein in Israel without letting Hamas off the hook
Canada was due to appear at the court today, but it is reported that it will not. In its written submission, it was asking the court not to offer an opinion. It is unclear whether the failure to appear is because the country has changed its position, or simply wanted to avoid saying it in public.
Canada’s written statement was made, like all of them published so far, in July 2023, before the 7 October attack and Israel’s subsequent assault on Gaza, and is now available. You can read it here.
In it, is says:
Canada does not dispute that the UN general assembly has the competence to request an advisory opinion from the court on questions of a legal nature, nor does it dispute that the court has the jurisdiction to consider this request. It is Canada’s view, however, that the Court should exercise its discretion not to respond to the request made by the UN general assembly in the present instance, in light of the compelling reasons present in this case.
Canada believes that the compelling reasons present in this case are twofold, the first being the lack of consent to the jurisdiction of the court by an interested State to the dispute underlying the request for an advisory opinion, and the second being that the UN security council is the body with primary responsibility for the overarching issue, not the UN general assembly.
It is Canada’s understanding that Israel, which has a direct interest in this case, has not provided consent for the ICJ to be seized of this matter.
In The Hague we have heard again from South Africa and Algeria. We are expecting to hear from Belize, Bolivia, Brazil and Chile this afternoon.
I have seen some chatter on social media criticising the countries selected to speak so far for not being representative of the region, but it is important to note that over 50 countries are contributing to this hearing, which is scheduled to last until next Monday.
Statements and written comments on the case to the court from Canada, Czech Republic, Djibouti, Israel, Italy, Guatemala, Liechtenstein, Morocco, Nauru, the State of Palestine, Senegal, South Africa, Togo, Yemen are already available here.
The hearing in The Hague at the International Court of Justice into Israel’s policies and practices in the occupied Palestinians territories has resumed for the afternoon. You can watch it here:
Questioned by media representatives after his update, Israeli government spokesperson Eylon Levy attacked a UN report in which experts said they were concerned about reports of “multiple forms of sexual assault” against Palestinian women and girls detained by Israel, and also criticised the leadership of the World Health Organization.
He said Israel categorically denied the reports that Palestinian women had been assaulted, calling the accusation “repulsive”, and said that the authors of a UN report included UN officials who had been “running interference for Hamas since the beginning”. He accused them of remaining silent on the sexual and gendered abuse of Israeli women and girls by Hamas, and said it was clear they were motivated “not by the truth but by their hatred of Israel and the Jewish people.”
In a press statement published yesterday by the UN Human Rights Office the authors expressed alarm over “credible allegations of egregious human rights violations to which Palestinian women and girls continue to be subjected in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank”, including reports of rape, strip-searches and photos of female detainees in degrading circumstances being posted online.
Israel denies the accusations, and Israel’s mission to the UN described them as “despicable and unfounded claims”.
Levy also criticised the leadership of the World Health Organization, saying that while he had no update on the situation at Nasser hospital, he noted that WHO had said it was running on just one electricity generator, without noting, he claimed, that the generator was supplied and fuelled by Israeli forces. Levy did not provide evidence for the claim.
Levy said the US was “foursquare behind Israel” when asked about the draft resolution at the UN security council from the US calling for a temporary ceasefire. He blamed Hamas for the collapse of the last pause in fighting, saying it had stopped releasing hostages. He said Israel was grateful for the support of its allies, “in whatever way they phrase it”.
Twice when asked, he declined to give an update on access arrangements to the al-Aqsa mosque during Ramadan. Israel has said it will continue to limit attendances, as it has done since 7 October.
Here are the key points from Eylon Levy’s briefing presentation. He is now taking questions from the media.
He said:
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IDF casualties (including on 7 October as well as in Gaza) are up to 575 killed, increasing by one. [See 8.32 GMT]
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They believe Hamas holds 134 hostages, 32 of whom have been killed or were killed during their abduction.
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He said members of the Bibas family had agreed to the release of footage of their abducted family. They said it was “so the world cannot forget what happened and cannot look away.”
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He quoted Benjamin Netanyahu saying “We will settle accounts with them. We will bring these kidnappers of babies to justice”
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Levy said ceasefire demands that Israel should “abandon children to the death squads” that abducted them are “a stain on humanity”.
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Israel will not accept the ongoing displacement of people from their homes in northern Isreal. He said “Hezbollah must back off” or Israel would force them away from its territory.
Israeli goverment spokesperson Eylon Levy is giving a public briefing in English, which you can watch here. We will bring you any key lines that emerge.
Hagar Shezaf at Haaretz has spoken to Philippe Lazzarini on UNRWA, who has told the paper that Israel has not passed to the agency evidence to support its claims members of organisation operated for Hamas during the 7 October attacks.
He told her the accusation was “severe enough and shocking enough for action to be taken immediately” but that Israel has not given him the report of its findings.
“We are asking now the state of Israel to fully cooperate to provide the evidence to the investigation team,” he told her.
Shezaf writes for Haaretz:
Asked whether there are suspicions that additional agency employees took part in the attack on Israeli communities near Gaza, Lazzarini said he had not received such evidence. He said he learned from media reports about the claim that some 10% of the agency’s employees in the Gaza Strip are linked to Hamas or Islamic Jihad.
“I read in the newspapers about 190 or 1,200 [employees] we have not been notified [about],” he says. “We do not have this information, we do not know where this information is coming [from], we do not know if it is an estimate. We do not know if it is just speculation.”