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UN says Gaza hospitals need oxygen as aid deliveries continue; West Bank settler attacks reported
Summary
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reported critical shortages of oxygen at Gaza hospitals, large-scale damage to school buildings and continued reports of settler violence in the occupied West Bank as humanitarian partners scale up winter and emergency aid.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said Friday that oxygen supplies are critically needed to sustain emergency surgical and intensive-care services at hospitals across the Gaza Strip, including al-Shifa and al-Rantisi in Gaza City.
OCHA, speaking through the UN spokesperson, said partners are engaging authorities to bring in generators, spare parts and equipment needed to produce oxygen in northern Gaza. Shelter partners distributed tarpaulins to more than 11,000 families over the weekend, and about 450 families at the displacement site of al-Mawasi received sealing-off, kitchen and hygiene kits, the spokesperson said.
The briefing also said 50,000 learners have enrolled in UNRWA’s distance learning program and that roughly 95 percent of school buildings in Gaza were damaged during the past 15 months of hostilities. Health partners warned that intensive-care and surgical services are under severe strain without reliable oxygen supplies.
In the occupied West Bank, OCHA reported continued casualties tied to operations by Israeli forces in Tulkarm and Jenin and said the use of ‘‘lethal warlike tactics’’ in those operations raises concerns the use of force exceeds law-enforcement standards. The spokesperson added that settler attacks against Palestinians and their properties continue to be reported across the West Bank; partners are mobilizing resources to assist impacted communities and reported at least one instance in which a house was set on fire in Nablus governorate.
The spokesperson emphasized the ‘‘overwhelming’’ scale of needs in Gaza and urged sustained international support for humanitarian operations, listing the implementation of an existing ceasefire and hostage-release agreement as a pathway to increase delivery of critical aid.
Humanitarian partners’ figures and the spokesperson’s remarks indicate large-scale damage to civilian infrastructure, widespread displacement and urgent medical needs, but the briefing did not include a full breakdown of funding shortfalls or a complete list of hospitals with shortages.
