UNICEF: Gaza\u2019s hospitals are \u201cwar zones\u201d where children bleed out on the floor<\/strong>\nA veteran UNICEF aid worker recounts in harrowing detail a recent visit to a Gaza hospital, where he saw very young children bleeding out on the floor, writhing from burns and shrapnel embedded in their flesh, and dying on the surgeon\u2019s table.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.elciudadano.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/nino-gaza-2.jpg\")
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Photographs: ARCHIVE: \u00a9 UNICEF\/Rawan Eleyan<\/p>\n
UN aid teams on Friday described the chilling conditions inside makeshift\u00a0Gaza<\/a> hospitals, where the cries of premature babies deprived of oxygen echo through the wards, as doctors work around the clock to try to save children who survived airstrikes on tent encampments or were shot by quadcopter drones while venturing out in search of bread.<\/p>\nSpeaking from the war-ravaged enclave amid Israel\u2019s ongoing military offensive to seize full control of Gaza City, UNICEF<\/a> spokesperson James Elder described a brief yet nightmarish visit to a hospital where children were suffering\u2014or dying\u2014everywhere he turned.<\/p>\nAmong the patients treated at Al Aqsa Hospital in Deir al-Balah, in central Gaza, was Aya, a six-year-old girl wounded in an airstrike.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat struck me most was not only the wound, but the care visible in her hair\u2014the love her parents had poured into her before the strike,\u201d he said. \u201cAs we spoke with the surgeon, she died on the bed in front of us. That was within 30 minutes in one hospital.\u201d<\/p>\n
No Space to Move<\/span><\/h2>\nAt the same hospital, Elder said he saw\u00a0three children \u201call shot by quadcopters<\/strong>,\u201d four-rotor attack drones, amid persistent reports of people being wounded while seeking assistance at controversial, non-UN aid distribution centers run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF).<\/p>\nThe hospital \u201cis a war zone\u201d: a child shot at the Foundation was bleeding out on the floor, alongside others suffering gunshot wounds, shrapnel injuries, or burns.<\/p>\n
The UNICEF spokesperson underscored reports indicating that\u00a01,000 babies have died in Gaza over the past two years<\/strong>\u00a0since the Hamas-led attacks in Israel ignited the war. \u201cWe have no idea how many more have died from preventable diseases,\u201d he added.<\/p>\nAfter nearly two years of Israeli military operations across the Strip, only 14 of Gaza\u2019s 36 hospitals remain open and partially functional. They are \u201cabsolutely packed\u201d with people in need of care, Elder stressed.<\/p>\n
Rescued, Terrified<\/span><\/h2>\n\u201cI turn around and see a little girl, Sham, who had just been pulled from the rubble; she\u2019s covered in dust and smoke, terror on her face, in the arms of an aunt or an uncle (\u2026) Sham had no broken bones or internal injuries, but no one\u00a0had told her that her mother and sister were killed in that attack<\/strong>.\u201d<\/p>\nHe continued: \u201cThere are first-time mothers and vulnerable newborns lying on the floor\u2014hospital corridors. I sat with three premature babies sharing a single oxygen source. They share it for 20 minutes each; the other two cry while the third receives that oxygen for 20 minutes.\u201d<\/p>\n
The notion of a \u201csafe zone\u201d is a farce<\/span><\/h2>\nIn Gaza City, the veteran UN aid worker emphasized that thousands remain unable to leave, amid ongoing Israeli evacuation orders and airstrikes that have left children \u201cshaking\u201d and looking to the sky \u201cto track the fire\u201d from helicopters and quadcopters.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are barefoot children pushing their grandparents through the rubble; amputee children struggling forward in the dust; mothers carrying exhausted children, literally with skin bleeding from the severity of rashes,\u201d Elder continued, warning of \u201congoing indiscriminate attacks in densely populated civilian areas, despite official statements.\u201d<\/p>\n
Elder said \u201cthe notion of a safe zone in the south is a farce. Bombs fall from the sky with a \u2018chilling\u2019 predictability.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Another aid worker killed<\/span><\/h2>\nOn Thursday,\u00a0the medical NGO Doctors Without Borders (MSF) confirmed the killing in Gaza of its 14th staff member<\/strong>, occupational therapist Omar Hayek, in an attack that also injured four of his colleagues in Deir al-Balah.<\/p>\nUntil 13 September he had worked in an MSF clinic in Gaza City before finally being evacuated amid \u201crelentless attacks and forced displacements by Israeli forces,\u201d the NGO said.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople are afraid\u2014and with good reason<\/strong>\u00a0(\u2026) If you ask me now whether we can do our job, I will tell you no\u2014of course we cannot do our work in the north,\u201d said Rik Peeperkorn, representative of the\u00a0World Health Organization<\/a>\u00a0(WHO<\/a>) of the United Nations in the occupied Palestinian territory.<\/p>\nThe level of violence in Gaza is such that no place is safe, including field hospitals, which offer no protection against stray bullets, said Christian Cardon of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have had several cases of people who were wounded, transferred to the hospital and, while receiving treatment,\u00a0were injured again by stray bullets that entered the hospital<\/strong>,\u201d he said, noting another similar incident on Thursday.<\/p>\nWith reporting from the United Nations.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n
A veteran UNICEF aid worker recounts in harrowing detail a recent visit to a Gaza hospital, where he saw very young children bleeding out on the floor, writhing from burns and shrapnel embedded in their flesh, and dying on the surgeon\u2019s table.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Photographs: ARCHIVE: \u00a9 UNICEF\/Rawan Eleyan<\/p>\n UN aid teams on Friday described the chilling conditions inside makeshift\u00a0Gaza<\/a> hospitals, where the cries of premature babies deprived of oxygen echo through the wards, as doctors work around the clock to try to save children who survived airstrikes on tent encampments or were shot by quadcopter drones while venturing out in search of bread.<\/p>\n Speaking from the war-ravaged enclave amid Israel\u2019s ongoing military offensive to seize full control of Gaza City, UNICEF<\/a> spokesperson James Elder described a brief yet nightmarish visit to a hospital where children were suffering\u2014or dying\u2014everywhere he turned.<\/p>\n Among the patients treated at Al Aqsa Hospital in Deir al-Balah, in central Gaza, was Aya, a six-year-old girl wounded in an airstrike.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat struck me most was not only the wound, but the care visible in her hair\u2014the love her parents had poured into her before the strike,\u201d he said. \u201cAs we spoke with the surgeon, she died on the bed in front of us. That was within 30 minutes in one hospital.\u201d<\/p>\n At the same hospital, Elder said he saw\u00a0three children \u201call shot by quadcopters<\/strong>,\u201d four-rotor attack drones, amid persistent reports of people being wounded while seeking assistance at controversial, non-UN aid distribution centers run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF).<\/p>\n The hospital \u201cis a war zone\u201d: a child shot at the Foundation was bleeding out on the floor, alongside others suffering gunshot wounds, shrapnel injuries, or burns.<\/p>\n The UNICEF spokesperson underscored reports indicating that\u00a01,000 babies have died in Gaza over the past two years<\/strong>\u00a0since the Hamas-led attacks in Israel ignited the war. \u201cWe have no idea how many more have died from preventable diseases,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n After nearly two years of Israeli military operations across the Strip, only 14 of Gaza\u2019s 36 hospitals remain open and partially functional. They are \u201cabsolutely packed\u201d with people in need of care, Elder stressed.<\/p>\n \u201cI turn around and see a little girl, Sham, who had just been pulled from the rubble; she\u2019s covered in dust and smoke, terror on her face, in the arms of an aunt or an uncle (\u2026) Sham had no broken bones or internal injuries, but no one\u00a0had told her that her mother and sister were killed in that attack<\/strong>.\u201d<\/p>\n He continued: \u201cThere are first-time mothers and vulnerable newborns lying on the floor\u2014hospital corridors. I sat with three premature babies sharing a single oxygen source. They share it for 20 minutes each; the other two cry while the third receives that oxygen for 20 minutes.\u201d<\/p>\n In Gaza City, the veteran UN aid worker emphasized that thousands remain unable to leave, amid ongoing Israeli evacuation orders and airstrikes that have left children \u201cshaking\u201d and looking to the sky \u201cto track the fire\u201d from helicopters and quadcopters.<\/p>\n \u201cThere are barefoot children pushing their grandparents through the rubble; amputee children struggling forward in the dust; mothers carrying exhausted children, literally with skin bleeding from the severity of rashes,\u201d Elder continued, warning of \u201congoing indiscriminate attacks in densely populated civilian areas, despite official statements.\u201d<\/p>\n Elder said \u201cthe notion of a safe zone in the south is a farce. Bombs fall from the sky with a \u2018chilling\u2019 predictability.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n On Thursday,\u00a0the medical NGO Doctors Without Borders (MSF) confirmed the killing in Gaza of its 14th staff member<\/strong>, occupational therapist Omar Hayek, in an attack that also injured four of his colleagues in Deir al-Balah.<\/p>\n Until 13 September he had worked in an MSF clinic in Gaza City before finally being evacuated amid \u201crelentless attacks and forced displacements by Israeli forces,\u201d the NGO said.<\/p>\n \u201cPeople are afraid\u2014and with good reason<\/strong>\u00a0(\u2026) If you ask me now whether we can do our job, I will tell you no\u2014of course we cannot do our work in the north,\u201d said Rik Peeperkorn, representative of the\u00a0World Health Organization<\/a>\u00a0(WHO<\/a>) of the United Nations in the occupied Palestinian territory.<\/p>\n The level of violence in Gaza is such that no place is safe, including field hospitals, which offer no protection against stray bullets, said Christian Cardon of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).<\/p>\n \u201cWe have had several cases of people who were wounded, transferred to the hospital and, while receiving treatment,\u00a0were injured again by stray bullets that entered the hospital<\/strong>,\u201d he said, noting another similar incident on Thursday.<\/p>\n With reporting from the United Nations.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/p>\nNo Space to Move<\/span><\/h2>\n
Rescued, Terrified<\/span><\/h2>\n
The notion of a \u201csafe zone\u201d is a farce<\/span><\/h2>\n
Another aid worker killed<\/span><\/h2>\n