There have been 230 Israeli soldiers killed and 1,352 injured since the start of ground operations and over 1,200 Israelis and foreign nationals killed during attacks on Israel since October 7th. Over 28,755 Palestinians have been killed and 68,552 injured. Two thirds of Palestinians killed are women and children.
As horror after horror unfolds in Gaza, now with Israeli forces having conducted a military operation inside the Nasser Hospital Complex, the UN human rights office OHCHR said that it was deeply worried over the raid, saying that it appeared to be “part of a pattern of attacks on civilian infrastructure, especially hospitals.”
Today, Saturday 17th February, people in Orkney will again gather on the steps of St Magnus Cathedral between 1 and 2pm calling for an immediate ceasefire and the release of all hostages.
Demonstrations and vigils up and down the country will take place today in support of the people of Gaza. In Shetland local councillors will be debating calls for a ceasefire in a motion later this month:
“Shetland Islands Council calls for an immediate and permanent ceasefire by all parties in Israel/Palestine, for the immediate provision of all necessary humanitarian aid and the release of all hostages. Shetland Islands Council urges the UK government to use the power at its disposal to achieve these ends.” – Scottish Green Councillor, Alex Armitage . SIC to debate Gaza ceasefire motion later this month
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), of the 36 hospitals in Gaza, only 11 are functioning.
Nasser Hospital has been providing lifesaving services to the most critically ill and has been a refuge to countless civilians displaced from elsewhere in the Gaza Strip. WHO has been trying to gain urgent access to the complex.
WHO spokesperson Tarik Jašarević said:
“We really need to get there to bring fuel so [the] hospital can continue to function and those patients who are still there can continue to receive medical care.
“We have been saying all this time…that patients, health workers and civilians who are seeking refuge in hospitals deserve safety and not a burial in those places of healing.”
Gaza is under heavy Israeli bombardment by air, land and sea. Over half of Gaza’s population are crammed into Rafah in the South.
The UN Population Fund (UNFPA) warned that the Al-Helal Al-Emirati Maternity Hospital in Rafah is “overwhelmed and struggling” to provide adequate care.
If the bombs don’t kill pregnant women, if disease, hunger and dehydration don’t catch up with them, simply giving birth could
– UNFPA
“Put simply, if the bombs don’t kill pregnant women, if disease, hunger and dehydration don’t catch up with them, simply giving birth could.”
Click on this link to Donate to the humanitarian response in Gaza
You can watch the latest film by Mike Robertson of the Orkney Gaza Vigil here:
Fiona Grahame