WHO Director urges Israel to stop attacks on Gaza medical facilities

After escaping an Israeli airstrike, the head of the World Health Organization urges Israel to stop attacking health facilities in Gaza.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus and the United Nations delegation were waiting to board a plane last week at the international airport in Sanaa, the capital of Yemen, when Israel attacked the facility.

Israel’s military said it struck the international airport because it is allegedly used by Yemen’s Houthi rebels to smuggle weapons to Iran and allow high-ranking Iranian officials to enter. Three people died and many were injured.

A week later, Ghebreyesus said Morning Edition that he has tinnitus caused by the explosion, which he hopes is temporary.

“The recent experience in Yemen, the same sound? It just comes to my mind from time to time, even from childhood,” said Ghebreyesu. “I know the sound. I know the picture. I know the smell. I know it.”

He grew up in the civil war-affected region of Tigray in Ethiopia, and knows the irreversible and tragic consequences of war.

Days after the airport attack, Israeli forces stormed one of the last functioning hospitals in northern Gaza and forcibly evacuated patients and staff from the facility, the Associated Press reported. . The Israeli army said the hospital was used by Hamas and that several people it detained were involved in the Oct. 7.

The World Health Organization describes the health crisis in Gaza as limited and under-resourced. Ghebreyesus says the situation in Gaza is inexplicable, and hospital operations are declining as the demand for medical aid increases. Of the 36 hospitals in Gaza, only 16 are still partially functional.

“When we ask for an end to the war, we are saying, ‘please, look for an alternative… peace,'” he said. “It’s good for Israel too.”

NPR’s Leila Fadel spoke with Ghebreyesus about the Yemeni airstrike, his call for Israel to stop attacking health facilities in Gaza and the general state of emergency.

The following section has been edited slightly for clarity and length.

Leila Fadel: The Israeli army said it did not know that you and the UN delegation were at the airport. Do you believe that?

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus: I can’t say anything about that. But what I know is that we made a regular announcement, what they call the UN term deconfliction protocol and everyone who should know knew.

Fadel: Including the Israelis?

Ghebreyesus: That’s what I would expect.

Fadel: Since we’re talking about Yemen, I’d like to get into the public health issues. What did you learn from your visit?

Ghebreyesus: The crisis in Yemen has been going on for more than ten years now. Out of a population of 78 million, almost half of the population is in need of humanitarian assistance. The cholera epidemic in Yemen is the largest in the world. Not only cholera, but measles and polio are back in the country. But actually my goal was not to help people. It was to negotiate with the Houthis, to release our colleagues who have been in custody for a long time.

Fadel: I want to go to Gaza where health workers continue to work in great danger. You recently asked Israel to stop attacking hospitals. What prompted him to call?

Ghebreyesus: The level of damage to health facilities in Gaza is something we have never seen before. Of the 36 hospitals that Gaza has, 20 are no longer functional. The remaining 16 are partially functional. And when hospitals are destroyed like that, when the health needs of the population are increasing, because of the trauma, the injuries are increasing, many people who could have been saved are dying because of the lack of services. . That is why we are asking Israel to protect health centers.

Fadel: How alarming is your statement about the recent attack on the Kamal Adwan Hospital in North Gaza? Now, the Israeli army said among the 240 people it took, it includes 15 people it says were involved in the Oct. 7. I mean, does the Israeli army’s explanation that they are doing this to go after Hamas make it acceptable to go after the hospitals?

Ghebreyesus: It doesn’t make it acceptable because health facilities have to be protected. And if you see not only the health facilities, but the level of destruction in Gaza is something you cannot describe in words.

More than 45,000 people were killed. More than 60% are women and children. This alone is enough to stop the war.

I know war. I know war since I was a child. That’s why I hate war. The only thing I know about war is death. Destruction. And then, of course, the survivors. To move. Maintenance. Be hungry. That’s what I know. The pain. Mothers are crying. Therefore, when we say to end the war, we are saying, please look at another way, peace. It is in Israel’s interest as well.

I don’t think war will be the solution.

If we are going to win, it is to find a political solution that can be passed on from generation to generation. I can feel it.