Israeli strikes damaged 24 healthcare centres in the Gaza Strip before a truce took effect on Friday.
The impact is severely hindering the treatment of hundreds wounded during 11 days of attacks, the UN’s health agency said.
They have only worsened the already dire healthcare situation there, said Dr Ahmed Al Mandhari, the World Health Organisation’s chief for the East Mediterranean region.
He said the situation was made worse by Israel’s closure of entry and exit points into the Gaza Strip.
“Healthcare facilities and staff should be a red line for any conflict; they should not be targets, nor should they be impacted by so-called ‘collateral damage’,” Dr Al Mandhari said at a WHO virtual conference held on Thursday before the ceasefire began.
The WHO head of office for West Bank and Gaza, Dr Richard Peeperkorn, Regional Emergency Director Dr Richard Brennan and Director of Communicable Diseases Dr Yvan Hutin also took part in the conference on the health impact of the conflict on people living in the Palestinian territory.
The Palestinian Health Ministry said 243 Gazans, including 66 children, were killed before the truce halted Israel’s offensive on the territory, and about 1,910 Gazans were wounded.
Anti-Israel protests in the West Bank during the same period killed 27, including four children, and injured 6,778, including 701 from live ammunition, the WHO said.
The escalating violence has also caused significant damage to much of the civil and healthcare infrastructure of the West Bank and Gaza, Dr Al Mandhari said.
As part of a $7 million response plan, WHO is working with the Palestinian Health Ministry to offer emergency treatment to the wounded in Gaza. This includes 10 medical tents encircling the enclave.
Healthcare operations in both areas are severely overwhelmed because they face critical shortages in essential medical supplies, he said.
Medics in both areas must now treat the wounded in addition to a growing number of Covid-19 patients as both areas emerge from a more aggressive third wave of the coronavirus, he said.
An increase in waterborne disease caused by damage to sewage systems has worsened the problem.
“WHO is extremely concerned about the loss of so many lives,” he said.
Dr Peeperkorn said that while exceptions have been made enabling Palestinians to leave Gaza through the Rafah border crossing into Egypt, and for Egyptian aid convoys to enter, there was still a “crying need” for essential humanitarian supplies.
Israeli air strikes have also damaged many of the main roads in Gaza, making it difficult for ambulances to reach the wounded.
Gaza’s largest Covid-19 testing laboratory, the Rimal Clinic, was almost destroyed in an air strike. It severely injured a doctor who was on duty at the time, Dr Peeperkorn said.
Only one other testing centre is left in Gaza but it operates on a much smaller scale than Rimal, with a capacity of 250 PCR tests a day.
“Covid-19 is still a real issue and I want to stress the point that both the West Bank and Gaza were just coming out of the third wave,” he said. “The damage and displacement of people will not help the Covid-19 situation.”
About 75,000 people were displaced in Gaza over the course of the latest conflict, of whom 47,000 sought shelter in 58 schools run by the UN Palestinian relief agency, UNRWA.
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Tearful appearance
Chancellor Rachel Reeves set markets on edge as she appeared visibly distraught in parliament on Wednesday.
Legislative setbacks for the government have blown a new hole in the budgetary calculations at a time when the deficit is stubbornly large and the economy is struggling to grow.
She appeared with Keir Starmer on Wednesday and the pair embraced but he failed to give her his backing as she cried a day earlier.
A spokesman said her upset demeanour was due to a personal matter.
The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
Zayed Sustainability Prize
Things Heard & Seen
Directed by: Shari Springer Berman, Robert Pulcini
Starring: Amanda Seyfried, James Norton
2/5
The biog
Name: Younis Al Balooshi
Nationality: Emirati
Education: Doctorate degree in forensic medicine at the University of Bonn
Hobbies: Drawing and reading books about graphic design
Company name: Play:Date
Launched: March 2017 on UAE Mother’s Day
Founder: Shamim Kassibawi
Based: Dubai with operations in the UAE and US
Sector: Tech
Size: 20 employees
Stage of funding: Seed
Investors: Three founders (two silent co-founders) and one venture capital fund
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Sreesanth's India bowling career
Tests 27, Wickets 87, Average 37.59, Best 5-40
ODIs 53, Wickets 75, Average 33.44, Best 6-55
T20Is 10, Wickets 7, Average 41.14, Best 2-12
The Bio
Favourite place in UAE: Al Rams pearling village
What one book should everyone read: Any book written before electricity was invented. When a writer willingly worked under candlelight, you know he/she had a real passion for their craft
Your favourite type of pearl: All of them. No pearl looks the same and each carries its own unique characteristics, like humans
Best time to swim in the sea: When there is enough light to see beneath the surface
How to vote
Canadians living in the UAE can register to vote online and be added to the International Register of Electors.
They'll then be sent a special ballot voting kit by mail either to their address, the Consulate General of Canada to the UAE in Dubai or The Embassy of Canada in Abu Dhabi
Registered voters mark the ballot with their choice and must send it back by 6pm Eastern time on October 21 (2am next Friday)
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
Guns N’ Roses’s last gig before Abu Dhabi was in Hong Kong on November 21. We were there – and here’s what they played, and in what order. You were warned.
- It’s So Easy
- Mr Brownstone
- Chinese Democracy
- Welcome to the Jungle
- Double Talkin’ Jive
- Better
- Estranged
- Live and Let Die (Wings cover)
- Slither (Velvet Revolver cover)
- Rocket Queen
- You Could Be Mine
- Shadow of Your Love
- Attitude (Misfits cover)
- Civil War
- Coma
- Love Theme from The Godfather (movie cover)
- Sweet Child O’ Mine
- Wichita Lineman (Jimmy Webb cover)
- Wish You Were Here (instrumental Pink Floyd cover)
- November Rain
- Black Hole Sun (Soundgarden cover)
- Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door (Bob Dylan cover)
- Nightrain
Encore:
- Patience
- Don’t Cry
- The Seeker (The Who cover)
- Paradise City
Pharaoh's curse
British aristocrat Lord Carnarvon, who funded the expedition to find the Tutankhamun tomb, died in a Cairo hotel four months after the crypt was opened.
He had been in poor health for many years after a car crash, and a mosquito bite made worse by a shaving cut led to blood poisoning and pneumonia.
Reports at the time said Lord Carnarvon suffered from “pain as the inflammation affected the nasal passages and eyes”.
Decades later, scientists contended he had died of aspergillosis after inhaling spores of the fungus aspergillus in the tomb, which can lie dormant for months. The fact several others who entered were also found dead withiin a short time led to the myth of the curse.
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
What is graphene?
Graphene is extracted from graphite and is made up of pure carbon.
It is 200 times more resistant than steel and five times lighter than aluminum.
It conducts electricity better than any other material at room temperature.
It is thought that graphene could boost the useful life of batteries by 10 per cent.
Graphene can also detect cancer cells in the early stages of the disease.
The material was first discovered when Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov were 'playing' with graphite at the University of Manchester in 2004.
