11:33 p.m. ET, November 3, 2023
Newborns, women and children are bearing the “disproportionate burden” of the war in Gaza, the UN warns
According to CNN’s Jennifer Hauser, newborns are “disproportionately bearing the burden” of the war in Gaza, several United Nations aid agencies said in a joint statement Friday.
“The bombings, damaged or non-functioning health facilities, massive displacement, collapsing water and electricity supplies, and limited access to food and medicine are significantly impacting maternal, newborn and child health care,” they said.
The statement was released by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), the United Nations Sexual and Reproductive Health Agency (UNFPA) and the World Health Organization (WHO).
Many pregnant women do not have access to the medical care they need, and maternal mortality is expected to increase.
“The psychological toll of hostilities also has direct – and sometimes fatal – consequences on reproductive health, including an increase in stress-related miscarriages, stillbirths and premature births,” the statement continued.
Malnutrition, already a problem before the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, is now even worse and could impact child survival and development, the statement warned.
The lives of newborns “hang by a thread” as “an estimated 130 premature babies in need of neonatal and intensive care will be at risk” if hospitals run out of fuel. Incubators and other medical equipment would no longer work, it was said.
The statement calls for “an immediate humanitarian pause” to “alleviate suffering and prevent a desperate situation from becoming a catastrophe.”
Some 9,155 people have been killed in Israeli attacks on Gaza since October 7, according to figures from sources in the Hamas-controlled enclave from the Palestinian Health Ministry in Ramallah on Friday. More than 23,000 others were injured.
The ministry’s report said nearly 73% of those who died belonged to vulnerable groups, including children, women and the elderly.
Some context: The myriad challenges of managing medical care in Gaza became even clearer on Friday when an airstrike on an ambulance outside Gaza City’s largest medical facility killed at least 15 people and injured 50 others, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry . Al-Shifa Hospital has increasingly come to the forefront as Israel claims the facility is home to a major Hamas command and control center.
The Palestinians have rejected the Israeli claim. The Director General of the Gaza Ministry of Health, Dr. Medhat Abbas, told CNN last week that Gaza’s hospitals “are only used to treat patients” and are not used to “hide anyone.”
Israel claimed responsibility for an attack on the ambulance and said the vehicle was used by Hamas.