Help Gaza patients: WHO
Agencies | Geneva
The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com
Soon after the United Nations launched an investigation into the crimes committed by Israel in Gaza, The World Health Organisation had kicked calling for access to patients in the Gaza Strip.
WHO said they need free passage to evacuate patients there for medical treatment as health workers struggle to care for the sick and wounded after 11 days of violence.
Fadela Chaib, WHO spokeswoman, told a Geneva briefing that around 600 patients, including some with chronic conditions, needed to be referred outside of the Palestinian enclave since the hostilities' start but had been unable to due to crossing closures. “It’s very important that we help Palestinians get the care they need, especially helping them get treatment outside the Gaza strip,” she said.
WHO has a presence on the ground, Chaib said but was unable to confirm whether it currently had any access from the outside. Other aid agencies have complained about limited humanitarian access and drug supplies.
The independent investigation announced by the United Nations Human Rights Council a day earlier had a broad mandate to look into all alleged violations in Gaza and the occupied West Bank and Israel during hostilities that were halted by a ceasefire on May 21.
Michelle Bachelet, the UN high commissioner for human rights, told the council that deadly Israeli strikes on Gaza might constitute war crimes and that Hamas had violated international humanitarian law by firing rockets into Israel. Reports of clashes also emerged yesterday from West Bank.
The Palestinian health ministry claimed that Israeli forces shot dead a Palestinian man during a protest near Nablus in the northern West Bank to protest Israeli settlement expansion. A spokeswoman for the Israeli army said they were checking the report.
Intensity rebuilding efforts in Gaza: Minister
Bahrain and Palestinian foreign ministers yesterday stressed the need to intensify efforts to rebuild the Gaza strip during a phone call. Dr Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani, during the call with Dr Riyadh Al-Maliki, also reviewed the overall situation in the Palestinian Territories and Gaza Strip.
They also mulled ways to enhance cooperation and joint coordination and supporting international efforts to maintain security and stability in the region.
Talks also focused on efforts to revive the peace process in the Middle East based on Palestinian people’s rights to establish their independent state with East Jerusalem as its capital.
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