GAZA, (PIC)
More than 190 facilities run by UNRWA, the main relief agency in the Gaza Strip, have been bombed by the Israeli occupation army – “some more than once.”
“Unfortunately, there is no safe place left in the Gaza Strip, and the displaced people are unable to find safe zones to move to,” Enas Hamdan, head of UNRWA’s media office in Gaza, said in press remarks on Sunday.
“UNRWA shares the coordinates of its institutions with the Israeli army on a daily basis,” Hamdan affirmed, pointing out that the agency’s facilities are only used to provide humanitarian relief for the displaced civilians in Gaza.
In a related context, an UNRWA official on Sunday reported “horrific scenes” at a hospital in the southern Gaza Strip following a deadly Israeli attack on a “humanitarian zone” for displaced families.
At least 90 people were killed and nearly 300 others injured in the attack that targeted the al-Mawasi area of Khan Yunis in southern Gaza on Saturday.
“Visiting the Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Yunis yesterday, I witnessed some of the most horrific scenes I have seen in my nine months in Gaza,” Scott Anderson, Deputy humanitarian coordinator and director of UNRWA affairs in Gaza, said in a statement.
“With no enough beds, hygiene equipment, sheeting, or scrubs, many patients were treated on the ground without disinfectants. Ventilation systems were switched off due to a lack of electricity and fuel, and the air was filled with the smell of blood,” Anderson explained.
“I saw toddlers who are double amputees, children paralyzed and unable to receive treatment, and others separated from their parents,” the UNRWA official said.
“I also saw mothers and fathers who were unsure if their children were alive. Parents told me in despair that they had moved into the ‘so-called humanitarian zone’ in the hope that their children would be safe there,” he added.
Anderson called for removing restrictions on the entry of humanitarian aid to civilians in the besieged Gaza Strip.
“Civilians must be protected at all times. We urgently need a ceasefire, the release of all remaining hostages, respite for the people of Gaza, and a meaningful opportunity for healing to begin,” he said.
