\n
<\/p>\n
The Israeli Parliament, known as the Knesset, adopted two bills on Monday banning UN Palestine refugee agency UNRWA from operating in its territory and prohibiting authorities from having any contact with it.<\/p>\n
\u201cUNRWA is indispensable in delivering the urgent, life-saving assistance that 2.2 million people in Gaza urgently need<\/strong>,\u201d UNICEF said in a statement.<\/p>\n \u201cWith the children of Gaza already facing one of the gravest humanitarian crises in recent history, if fully implemented, this decision will be deadly.\u201d<\/p>\n The statement underlined that UNRWA is the only UN General Assembly-mandated agency to provide for Palestinian refugees.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cUNRWA runs a range of social services, with over 18,000 employees in Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, providing health, education and other essential services for Palestinian refugees,\u201d it said. \u201cNo UN agency can take over this responsibility<\/strong>.\u201d<\/p>\n UNRWA provides essential services and protection to more than five million Palestinian refugees overall across the Occupied Palestinian Territory and in Jordan, Lebanon and Syria.<\/p>\n UNICEF noted that it is \u201cthe backbone of the humanitarian response in Gaza\u201d, and that UN Secretary-General Ant\u00f3nio Guterres has said \u201cthere is no alternative to UNRWA\u201d.<\/p>\n The agency\u2019s support to Palestinian civilians continues as war grinds on in Gaza.<\/p>\n UNRWA said on Thursday that in Khan Younis, its teams continue to reach thousands of displaced people with flour and essential aid.<\/p>\n \u201cAs the risk of famine across the Gaza Strip remains high, UNRWA\u2019s commitment to supporting the most vulnerable is more critical than ever<\/strong>,\u201d the agency wrote on the social media platform X.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, the head of the World Health Organization (WHO) Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, again underscored the need for peace in Gaza.<\/p>\n Writing on X, he stated that \u201call you get from war\u201d are destruction, death, displacement, disease, depravation and famine.<\/p>\n \u201cI hope our world gets back to its senses,\u201d Tedros said. \u201cThe best medicine is peace.\u201d<\/p>\n This week, WHO Egypt and the United Kingdom\u2019 s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office signed a \u00a31 million agreement (roughly $1.3 million) to respond to the health needs of people evacuated from Gaza for treatment in the northeast African country.<\/p>\n Through the partnership, WHO will support the Ministry of Health and partners to provide quality health services for these patients.<\/p>\n WHO will work to enhance the readiness of Egypt\u2019s health system to receive the evacuees by ensuring the availability of necessary medical equipment, medical supplies and medications, including chemotherapy.<\/p>\n The agency will also enhance the capacity of healthcare providers to manage chronic diseases and provide psychosocial support.<\/p>\n WHO has previously reported that although some 5,000 people have been evacuated for medical treatment outside of Gaza since war erupted in October 2023, more than 10,000 are still in need.<\/p>\n Egypt began receiving patients from Gaza last November and since then, WHO has worked to support the country\u2019s efforts to meet their health needs.<\/p>\n Since the crisis began, WHO in Egypt has provided more than $2 million worth of medical supplies to local hospitals, including intensive care unit beds, mechanical heart valves, bloodlines for dialysis machines, orthopedic surgery supplies and anaesthesia medications.\u00a0<\/p>\n With support from Japan, WHO Egypt has also trained around 900 health workers in various fields to provide lifesaving emergency healthcare services.<\/p>\n Separately, UN sexual and reproductive health agency UNFPA warned that attacks on hospitals in northern Gaza \u2013 including Kamal Adwan, the main provider of obstetric care – have shut down the last functioning neonatal intensive care unit in the region.<\/p>\n The attacks have also further restricted access to maternity care for the roughly 4,000 pregnant women in the area.<\/p>\n \u201cReports of women dying during or shortly after childbirth, and women giving birth alone without medical care, are increasing,\u201d UNFPA said.<\/p>\n The agency reported that only two out of 20 health service points in the north are partially functioning. The same applies to two hospitals there, with the Al-Awda Hospital inaccessible due to damaged roads and the Israeli army presence nearby.<\/p>\n UNFPA said \u201cthe results of the attacks on healthcare are harrowing\u201d, noting that an airstrike wiped out the last remaining medical supplies inside Kamal Adwan Hospital and the warehouse storing supplies also went up in flames.<\/p>\n Furthermore, two children died at Al-Awda Hospital after medical equipment was damaged, cutting off their oxygen supply in the intensive care unit, according to medical personnel.\u00a0<\/p>\n A new mother was also killed when the ambulance she was travelling in was targeted shortly after she gave birth, though her newborn survived.<\/p>\n The UN agency said widespread food insecurity and ensuing malnutrition are compounding the suffering of around 14,000 pregnant and breastfeeding women in the north<\/strong>, who are rapidly exhausting all available means for survival.\u00a0<\/p>\nA singular and vital role<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Critical commitment<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\u2018The best medicine is peace\u2019<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Support for Gaza medical evacuees<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Thousands still waiting<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Last neonatal ICU in the north out of action<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\u2018Harrowing\u2019 attacks on healthcare<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Concern for new mothers<\/strong><\/h2>\n