WHO: People in Gaza are starving to death

The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned the international community, announcing that the people of Gaza are "starving to death" due to humanitarian aid cuts.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, speaking at a press conference in Geneva, stated that cutting financial aid to the United Nations (UN) Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) would have "catastrophic consequences."

Emphasizing that no other organization has the capacity to deliver aid to the 2 million 200 thousand people in Gaza at the scale they urgently need, Ghebreyesus called on countries that decided to halt financial aid to UNRWA, saying, "We appeal for these decisions to be reconsidered."

RISK IS INCREASING

Israel had raised allegations that 12 UNRWA employees participated in the terror attack Hamas launched against Israel on October 7. Following this, several countries, including the US, the UK, Germany, and Japan, decided to halt financial aid to the UN aid agency.

WHO Director-General Ghebreyesus stated, "This will have catastrophic consequences for the people of Gaza," adding that they are already facing great difficulty in sending aid to the region and that WHO staff in the region have shared information with them that they are facing food and medicine shortages. 

"More than 100 thousand Gazans are either dead, injured, or missing and presumed dead," the WHO Director-General said, adding, "The risk of hunger is very high, and this risk is increasing every day due to the ongoing conflict and the difficulties in delivering humanitarian aid."

WHO Emergencies Director Michael Ryan: "The people of Gaza are starving to death"

Ryan emphasized that Palestinians in Gaza are "in the middle of a massive catastrophe," and reported that major outbreaks are being seen, especially in children, as a result of malnutrition combined with a lack of shelter and exposure to cold weather.

Guterres: UNRWA is the backbone of aid to Gaza

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres also said in a speech at a committee meeting at the UN, "The humanitarian aid system in Gaza is collapsing."

Describing UNRWA as "the backbone of all humanitarian response in Gaza," Guterres said regarding the allegations against some of the agency's employees, "I was personally horrified by these accusations." 

Explaining that he met with representatives of the countries that decided to halt financial aid following these allegations to hear their concerns, Guterres stated that he also informed these countries about the steps they have taken to address those concerns.

DEATH TOLL IS RISING

Meanwhile, the operations Israel launched against Gaza following Hamas's terror attack on October 7 continue. The Israeli army also targeted Gaza with airstrikes on Wednesday.

The Hamas-controlled Gaza Health Ministry announced that 150 more people have lost their lives in the last 24 hours, and the number of Palestinians who have died since October 7 has exceeded 26 thousand 500. The ministry, which announced that 65 thousand 949 people have been injured in the conflicts to date, pointed out that 75 percent of those who lost their lives are women, children, and the elderly.

The war began after the terror attack Hamas launched against Israel on October 7, in which more than 1200 people, 850 of them civilians, lost their lives.

News Source: 12punto