LAST UPDATE | 7 Nov 2024

THE BESIEGED KAMAL Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza has become “a war zone”, the United Nations children’s agency has said. 

UNICEF’s Middle East and North Africa regional director Adele Khodr said the hospital’s neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), the last remaining in the northern Gaza Strip, has reportedly been damaged in “heavy attacks” in recent days.

“Vulnerable newborns and sick and wounded children in need of intensive care are being killed in tents, in incubators and in the arms of their parents.”

“That this hasn’t galvanised enough political will to end the war, represents a fundamental crisis of our humanity,” Khodr said. 

The Israeli military has been waging a siege and assault on the north of the devastated territory for over a month now. Hospitals have been besieged and attacked while tens of thousands have been forced to flee south following evacuation orders from the Israel Defence Forces (IDF).

Tánaiste Micheál Martin condemned the Israeli operation in northern Gaza on 21 October, urging Israel to fulfil its obligations under international humanitarian law.

Addressing the Dáil this morning in relation to Gaza – for possibly the last time before an election is called tomorrow – Martin repeated the Government’s calls for a ceasefire and the release of Israeli hostages.

“An immediate ceasefire, the release of all hostages and a surge of humanitarian assistance into Gaza must remain the urgent focus of the international community,” he said.

“While our discussions today are focused on Gaza, we continue to face the risk of even wider regional escalation, which would have devastating consequences for the region as a whole.

This is a trajectory that is deeply troubling and must be reversed.

‘Incredibly difficult’ to access hospital

Khodr said that access to the Kamal Adwan Hospital, where male staff members were recently rounded up and taken captive, is “incredibly difficult” but that the agency has received reports that children who were treated there have been killed and injured in recent attacks. 

The hospital’s oxygen and water supplies have been damaged, “disrupting critical care for the few still clinging to life inside”, Khodr said.

“Any newborn baby fighting to sustain its breaths from inside a hospital incubator is entirely defenceless and entirely reliant on specialist medical care and equipment to survive.

“In the Gaza Strip, at least 4,000 babies are estimated to have been cut off from lifesaving newborn care in the past year because of sustained attacks on the hospitals earnestly trying to keep them alive, because electricity supply has been cut off and because the little fuel delivered to power hospitals is woefully inadequate,” she said.

“This has been especially deadly in the northern parts of the Gaza Strip.”

Before the war began in October last year, there were eight NICUs in the Gaza Strip with a total of 178 incubators, Khodr explained.

“Most of these units had recently received new equipment, including incubators, from UNICEF. Even then, the NICU capacity in Gaza was insufficient to meet the high demand for specialised newborn care.

“Today, three of these NICU units are destroyed – all in northern Gaza – and the number of incubators available has plummeted by 70% to about 54 incubators across the Strip.

“In the northern parts of Gaza, the number of incubators is down from 105 at the three NICUs to just nine, all at Kamal Adwan hospital. 

She said that after the latest attacks it is unclear if they remain functional.

“At least 6,000 newborn babies need intensive care in the Gaza Strip every year. 

“However, the true number could be higher with doctors telling us that the proportion of babies born premature, undernourished, or with developmental issues and other health complications has risen as the war impacts their foetal development, birth, and care.

“Sufficient nutritious food is severely lacking for pregnant and lactating mothers, resulting in increased preterm births,” because Israel has prevented aid from entering the area at scale, she said.

Lifeline cut

As the situation for civilians in northern Gaza becomes more and more dire, the head of the UN’s main aid agency in Palestine has warned of the consequences that are likely to come from Israel’s decision to ban UNRWA. 

“Today, millions of Palestine refugees fear that the public services on which their lives depend will soon disappear. They fear that their children will be deprived of education, illnesses will go untreated, and social support will stop,” said Philippe Lazzarini , the director general of UNRWA.

“The entire population of Gaza fears that their only remaining lifeline will be cut. Without intervention by Member States, UNRWA will collapse, plunging millions of Palestinians into chaos,” he said. 

Today, millions of Palestine refugees fear that the public services on which their lives depend will soon disappear. They fear that their children will be deprived of education, illnesses will go untreated, and social support will stop
– @UNRWA head Philippe Lazzarini, 6 Nov 24 pic.twitter.com/bs895xF4iw

— UN News (@UN_News_Centre) November 6, 2024

Israel sent a notice to the UN this week officially cutting ties with UNRWA. That came after the Israeli parliament voted to ban the agency from operating in Israel, which amounts to a ban on its activities across Palestine due to the occupation.

Lazzarini urged UN member states to prevent the legislation from coming into effect. 

Netanyahu calls Trump

Following his election victory yesterday, Donald Trump received a call from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu congratulating the Republican on winning the presidency for a second time. 

“The conversation was warm and cordial. The prime minister congratulated Trump on his election victory, and the two agreed to work together for Israel’s security. The two also discussed the Iranian threat,” Netanyahu’s office said in a statement.

Trump and Netanyahu already have a close personal relationship stemming from the last time the Republican held office. 

While President Joe Biden has fully supported Israel during its wars in Palestine and Lebanon, Trump has claimed the current administration is holding Israel back, saying Netanyahu should be allowed to “finish the job”. 

Israel’s war on the Gaza Strip has killed more than 43,000 people since it began in October last year in response to the Hamas-led attacks against the south of the country. 

With reporting from AFP