UN plans mission to Gaza's Al Shifa hospital after Israeli withdrawal

UNITED NATIONS, April 1 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations is planning a mission to Al Shifa Hospital in Gaza City following the withdrawal of the Israeli military from the premises, said a UN spokesman on Monday.

"We are planning a mission to the hospital as soon as we can get there to help people receive medical attention and to assess the state of the hospital. This comes as we saw the reports that the Israeli Defence Forces have vacated the premises of Al Shifa Hospital," said Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

The World Health Organization (WHO) is waiting for the deconfliction and the proper security assurances from the Israeli government, said the spokesman.

The WHO staff are trying to go as quickly as they can. The information they have received, according to WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, is fairly bleak, said Dujarric.

Meanwhile, at Al Aqsa Hospital in central Gaza, a WHO team was conducting a humanitarian mission there on Sunday when a tent camp inside the hospital compound was hit by an Israeli airstrike. Four people were reportedly killed, and 17 others injured. All WHO staff were accounted for, said Dujarric.

The WHO team was at the hospital to assess needs and collect incubators, which are to be sent to health facilities in northern Gaza, he said.

The UN agency for Palestine refugees, UNRWA, said there has been no significant change in the volume of humanitarian supplies entering Gaza or improved access to the north, according to Dujarric.

From March 1-30, a daily average of 159 aid trucks have crossed into Gaza per day. The highest number was on Thursday, when 264 trucks entered Gaza. This remains well below the operational target of 500 trucks per day, he said.

UNRWA also continues to provide storage and distribution capacity for other agencies' food and commodities. The agency reported that more than 1.8 million people, which is 85 percent of Gaza's population, have received flour, and nearly 600,000 have received emergency food parcels, said the spokesman.

On media reports that Israel has lodged an official proposal with the United Nations for the dismantling of UNRWA, Dujarric said no such document has been received by the secretary-general's office.

"That being said, our position on UNRWA remains unchanged -- that UNRWA is the lifeline of hope of services for millions of Palestinians in the region, including in Gaza. And currently it's the backbone, the spine, the arms and the legs of our humanitarian operation there," he said.