UN official: Gaza is going through circumstances unprecedented in human history

The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) Regional Director for the Arab States, Laila Baker, said she is “at a loss for words about the catastrophic situation on the ground and the loss of complete humanity in what we see in Gaza,” adding that what Gaza witnessing “is an unprecedented and unparalleled brutality in the history of humanity in recent times.”

In an interview with UN news, Baker said: “2.2 million people, amongst them 50,000 pregnant women, besieged for one month. 5,500 women are going to give birth within the next few weeks.”

She expressed concern at the targeting of hospitals and medical personnel and said that these actions worsen the situation of pregnant women.

Baker stressed that the UNFPA team on the ground is doing its best to support pregnant women with aid, although simple, she says it can make the difference between life and death.

For pregnant women, she said, hospitals are supposed to be some of the safest places on earth, asking, can you imagine the situation of a pregnant woman in those circumstances? Her life is threatened under the continuous and direct strikes. When you arrive at the hospital, there may be no doctor.

She added that she could not imagine, as a woman, being in these women’s places. How can she imagine surviving? If she has children, what will happen to them?

She pointed out that there are children arriving at hospitals without parents, and she wondered about the fate of these children in light of this situation.

The UN official called on every person and every country with a humanitarian conscience to request a ceasefire, and to allow the United Nations to continue delivering all humanitarian supplies.

She also pointed out the situation that young girls are experiencing in light of the lack of privacy in shelters crowded with displaced people.

Baker stressed: “The ceasefire is necessary and a necessary condition for two things. One, for us to be able to enter into Gaza with the goods, unhindered and unconditionally, to be able to provide for those who have been forcibly displaced to the south, for those who are injured and overwhelming the hospital facilities, and to bring in the goods and people where we can start to at least address some of those critical humanitarian needs. Secondly, it’s critically important that the protection of all humanitarian staff – and the sanctity of life in general – is protected.”

“There’s no such thing as a humanitarian pause. A pause implies that you can come in, bring your things, but then we’re going to bombard and then we’re going to commit and continue to put that pressure on the people of Gaza. That cannot continue. It must stop immediately,” she added.

She pointed out that the UNFPA and other humanitarian organisations trying to help in this very difficult moment cannot be an alternative to the government or entities working in the health or civil sector, or the protection sector.

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