The health authorities in Gaza have issued an urgent appeal to all relevant entities to facilitate the travel of cancer patients, individuals with chronic diseases, and injured men aged 16 to 65 for medical treatment abroad. This step is crucial to save lives, as the lack of access to necessary care is resulting in daily fatalities.
On Wednesday, the Government Media Office in Gaza urged “the international community to fulfil its moral, humanitarian, and legal obligations by intervening immediately to safeguard prisoners from severe violations caused by the actions of Israel’s racist occupation government that harbours animosity towards Palestinians.”
The office implored international and human rights organizations to expedite efforts to secure the release of all prisoners, prioritizing those who are ill and child detainees of both genders. These prisoners are reportedly enduring extreme conditions and various forms of torture within the prisons.
The United Nations has requested $2.8bn to address the needs of 3.3 million individuals in the Gaza Strip, the occupied West Bank, and East Jerusalem.
According to a statement from the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), this appeal covers the period from April to December 2024 and is an extension of the initial assistance request launched on 12 October 2023, and subsequently revised in November 2023.
The Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, Mohammed bin Abdul Rahman Al Thani, commented on the delicate nature of the ongoing ceasefire discussions in Gaza. Speaking at a joint press conference with Romanian Foreign Minister Luminica Odubescu, Al Thani acknowledged challenges in the negotiations and expressed efforts to resolve them.
Al Thani emphasized Qatar’s early warnings against the escalation of the Gaza conflict and called upon the international community to take responsibility. He condemned the continued policy of collective punishment by Israel in the Gaza Strip and the intensifying situation in the West Bank.
The Ministry of Health in the Gaza Strip said that the Israeli occupation committed 6 massacres in the Strip during the past 24 hours, leaving 56 deaths and 89 wounded. This brings the number of victims of the Israeli aggression on Gaza to 33,899 deaths and 76,664 wounded since 7 October, according to the ministry.