Latest news with #medicalsupplies
Arab News
3 days ago
- Health
- Arab News
UN condemns ‘armed individuals' for looting medical supplies in Gaza
UNITED NATIONS: The United Nations condemned Friday a group of 'armed individuals' for raiding warehouses in the Palestinian territory of Gaza and looting large amounts of medical supplies. The group 'stormed the warehouses at a field hospital in Deir Al-Balah, looting large quantities of medical equipment, supplies, medicines, nutritional supplements that was intended for malnourished children,' said Stephane Dujarric, spokesperson for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. The stolen aid had been brought into war-ravaged Gaza just a day earlier, he said. 'As conditions on the ground further deteriorate and public order and safety breaks down, looting incidents continue to be reported,' he said. But Dujarric highlighted the difference between Friday's event and the looting two days earlier of a UN World Food Programme (WFP) warehouse by 'starving' Palestinians, desperate for aid. 'This appeared to be much more organized and much different from the looting we'd seen... in the past days,' he said. 'This was an organized operation with armed men.' Since the beginning of last week, Israel has begun to allow a trickle of aid into the Palestinian territory, after a total blockade imposed on March 2. The UN has warned that the aid allowed through so far was 'a drop in the ocean' of the towering needs in Gaza, after the blockade created dramatic shortages of food and medicine. The UN humanitarian agency warned Friday that '100 percent of the population (are) at risk of famine.' Gaza has been decimated by Israel's punishing military offensive on the territory, which has killed at least 54,321 people, mostly civilians, according to health ministry figures the UN considers reliable. It has also reduced much of the territory to rubble, destroying hospitals, schools, residential areas and basic road and sewage infrastructure. Israel launched its offensive in response to an unprecedented Hamas attack on October 7, 2023, which resulted in the deaths of 1,218 people, also mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures. On Thursday, 'we and our humanitarian partners only managed to collect five truckloads of cargo from the Palestinian side of the Kerem Shalom crossing,' Dujarric said. 'Another 60 trucks had to return to the crossing due to intense hostilities in the area.' He rejected Israeli allegations that the UN was not collecting available aid. 'It was no longer safe to use that road,' which Israel's military had asked aid organizations to use, he said, stressing that there are 'a lot of armed gangs' operating there. The five trucks that did make it through on Thursday were carrying medical supplies for the Deir Al-Balah field hospital. And most of those supplies 'were looted today, very sadly and tragically,' Dujarric said.
Al Bawaba
4 days ago
- General
- Al Bawaba
Sudan reports 70 cholera deaths in Khartoum in 2 days
Published May 29th, 2025 - 06:41 GMT ALBAWABA - Sudan is facing a major cholera outbreak, especially in Khartoum, which witnessed 70 related deaths in two days, health officials announced. Also Read Cholera outbreak in Sudan kills 212, infects over 5000 in a week The health ministry for Khartoum State recorded 942 new cases and 25 deaths on Wednesday. Nonetheless, AFP reported, citing the Sudanese ministry, that on Tuesday, 1,177 cholera cases and 45 deaths were recorded. Earlier, Sudan's Federal Health Minister, Dr. Haitham Mohamed Ibrahim, announced that the cholera outbreak in Khartoum is under control, crediting a coordinated effort between federal and local health authorities. He affirmed that medical supplies are sufficient, boosted by the arrival of 150 tons of intravenous fluids, and that a vaccination campaign is underway across all state districts to curb further spread. © 2000 - 2025 Al Bawaba (
Asharq Al-Awsat
7 days ago
- Health
- Asharq Al-Awsat
Majority of Medical Equipment Supplies at 'Stock Zero' in Gaza, WHO Says
The majority of supplies of medical equipment have run out in Gaza, while 42% of basic medicines including pain killers are out of stock, the World Health Organization said on Monday. "We are at stock zero of close to 64% of medical equipment and stock zero of 43% of essential medicines and 42% of vaccines," Hanan Balkhy, the WHO's Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean, told reporters in Geneva, Reuters reported. Balkhy said the WHO has 51 aid trucks waiting on the Gaza border that have not yet had clearance to enter the Palestinian enclave, where Israel last week slightly eased a total blockade on aid imposed in early March. "Can you imagine a surgeon (fixing) a broken bone with no anaesthesia? IV fluids, needles, bandages - they do not exist in the quantities that are required," she said, adding that basic medications such as antibiotics, pain killers and drugs for chronic diseases were in short supply. After an 11-week blockade, Israel allowed 100 aid trucks carrying flour, baby food and medical equipment into the Gaza Strip on May 21, none of them from the WHO. Amidst ongoing shortages of medical equipment, the WHO confirmed that it would not take part in an alternative, US-backed aid plan to distribute aid, proposed by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. The United Nations has said the foundation is not impartial and its work could cause further displacement of civilians, exposes thousands to harm. The GHF previously told Reuters its plan would enable aid to be delivered to people in need, without diversion to Hamas militants or criminal gangs. Israel stopped all aid deliveries to Gaza on March 2 after accusing Hamas of stealing aid, which it denied, and demanding the release of all remaining hostages taken during Hamas' October 2023 attack on Israel.
CNA
7 days ago
- Health
- CNA
Majority of medical equipment supplies at 'stock zero' in Gaza, WHO says
GENEVA: The majority of supplies of medical equipment have run out in Gaza, while 42 per cent of basic medicines including pain killers are out of stock, the World Health Organization said on Monday (May 26). "We are at stock zero of close to 64 per cent of medical equipment and stock zero of 43 per cent of essential medicines and 42 per cent of vaccines," Hanan Balkhy, the WHO's Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean, told reporters in Geneva. Balkhy said the WHO has 51 aid trucks waiting on the Gaza border that have not yet had clearance to enter the Palestinian enclave, where Israel last week slightly eased a total blockade on aid imposed in early March. "Can you imagine a surgeon (fixing) a broken bone with no anaesthesia? IV fluids, needles, bandages - they do not exist in the quantities that are required," she said, adding that basic medications such as antibiotics, pain killers and drugs for chronic diseases were in short supply. After an 11-week blockade, Israel - at war with Gaza's dominant militant group Hamas since October 2023 - allowed 100 aid trucks carrying flour, baby food and medical equipment into the Gaza Strip on May 21, none of them from the WHO. Amidst ongoing shortages of medical equipment, the WHO confirmed that it would not take part in an alternative, US-backed aid plan to distribute aid, proposed by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. The United Nations has said the foundation is not impartial and its work could cause further displacement of civilians, exposes thousands to harm. The GHF previously told Reuters its plan would enable aid to be delivered to people in need, without diversion to Hamas militants or criminal gangs. Israel stopped all aid deliveries to Gaza on Mar 2 after accusing Hamas of stealing aid, which it denied, and demanding the release of all remaining hostages taken during Hamas' October 2023 attack on Israel.
Yahoo
7 days ago
- Health
- Yahoo
Majority of medical equipment supplies at 'stock zero' in Gaza, WHO says
GENEVA (Reuters) -The majority of supplies of medical equipment have run out in Gaza, while 42% of basic medicines including pain killers are out of stock, the World Health Organization said on Monday. "We are at stock zero of close to 64% of medical equipment and stock zero of 43% of essential medicines and 42% of vaccines," Hanan Balkhy, the WHO's Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean, told reporters in Geneva. Balkhy said the WHO has 51 aid trucks waiting on the Gaza border that have not yet had clearance to enter the Palestinian enclave, where Israel last week slightly eased a total blockade on aid imposed in early March. "Can you imagine a surgeon (fixing) a broken bone with no anaesthesia? IV fluids, needles, bandages - they do not exist in the quantities that are required," she said, adding that basic medications such as antibiotics, pain killers and drugs for chronic diseases were in short supply. After an 11-week blockade, Israel - at war with Gaza's dominant militant group Hamas since October 2023 - allowed 100 aid trucks carrying flour, baby food and medical equipment into the Gaza Strip on May 21, none of them from the WHO. Amidst ongoing shortages of medical equipment, the WHO confirmed that it would not take part in an alternative, U.S.-backed aid plan to distribute aid, proposed by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. The United Nations has said the foundation is not impartial and its work could cause further displacement of civilians, exposes thousands to harm. The GHF previously told Reuters its plan would enable aid to be delivered to people in need, without diversion to Hamas militants or criminal gangs. Israel stopped all aid deliveries to Gaza on March 2 after accusing Hamas of stealing aid, which it denied, and demanding the release of all remaining hostages taken during Hamas' October 2023 attack on Israel.
