UNICEF on Gaza crisis: urgent aid needed as number of victims grow

CGTN Europe

CGTN Europe spoke to Rosalia Bollen, Communication Specialist for UNICEF, about the aftermath of the overnight Israeli airstrikes that killed hundreds of people in Gaza.

Transcript

00:00Rosalia Bolland is from UNICEF. Thank you for coming on the program. So what is

00:05happening now following those overnight strikes? What we've seen in the

00:11immediate aftermath of the strikes is this large inflow of injured persons and

00:17dead people into the hospitals. Hospitals who are really coping with a

00:22lot of pressure. Healthcare has been decimated throughout the war in the

00:2615 months of war preceding these bombardments. I was just in Al-Aqsa

00:31Hospital a couple of days ago and their nurses at the neonatal intensive care

00:37unit were speaking to me about a lack of antibiotics. So it's in these conditions

00:41that hospitals have been receiving injured persons. Evacuation orders have

00:48also been issued for certain parts of northern Gaza and for eastern Ghana

00:54and UNICEF in the southern part of the Gaza Strip. And we're seeing that families

00:59are now moving yet again. Families who had just moved back to their homes

01:05during the ceasefire. They're faced with the choice of staying and facing

01:10possible death or moving again. There's quite a few families who choose for the

01:17latter. We also continue to see the immediate impact of the aid blockade.

01:24Since the beginning of March UNICEF and other organizations have not been able

01:28to pick up life-saving assistance waiting right outside of Gaza ready to

01:34be moved in. But we're not allowed to do that. UNICEF for instance for its part

01:39has over a hundred eighty thousand childhood vaccines ready to be brought

01:45in to vaccinate and protect up to sixty thousand children under the age of two.

01:49We have specialized equipment for neonatal units in hospitals to help

01:55preterm babies breathe. So all of that isn't coming in and is worsening the

02:01situation here on the ground. Rosalia as you're saying your medical

02:06facilities were pretty much already overwhelmed. You mentioned you can't get

02:11antibiotics but what about those other basics like access to clean water and

02:15and to food. So all of that is in jeopardy right now. In the first six

02:22weeks of the ceasefire UNICEF and others have been able to considerably scale up

02:27the supplies brought into Gaza. But that progress is being erased real fast right

02:35now because of the aid blockade and because of those bombardments. As to

02:40UNICEF whatever supplies that we have been able to bring in we haven't had the

02:46luxury to pre-position them to build up a large stock in our warehouses because

02:51families in Gaza remain in need of everything. The type of supplies that we

02:55have been able to bring in are for instance nutrition supplies, high-energy

03:00biscuits, plumpy nuts, health supplies so so disposables used in hospitals, gauze

03:07syringes, obstetric kits to help deliver babies, tarpaulins for people to build

03:13shelters, clothes for children. But we have tried as much as we could to

03:19distribute that because it would just not make sense for us to build up a

03:24stock while families right outside the warehouse need everything. So we still

03:30have some supplies in our warehouses but we need the borders to reopen for those

03:36supplies not to be depleted. Many countries have condemned what's taking

03:41place but what direct action would you like to see the international community

03:45taking right now? The international community should use all its leverage to

03:51put an immediate halt to these bombardments. UNICEF and others have been

03:55calling since this night for a halt in the bombardments and for the

04:01restoration of the ceasefire. That ceasefire must be sustained because that

04:05is the most immediate measure that will help save children's lives.

04:11Rosalia Bolan from UNICEF, thank you very much. Thank you for having me.

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