MUSCAT: The United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) expressed deep appreciation for the Sultanate of Oman’s donation of $1 million to help children in the Gaza Strip.
The organisation stressed that "this important donation highlights the Sultanate of Oman’s firm stance on the Palestinian issue and its firm support for Palestine in its quest for peace".
The Unicef pointed out that Oman’s position stems from keen interest in supporting humanitarian action and its strong backing for the wellbeing of children at national and international levels. The international organisation described Oman’s contributions as a "vital role in providing basic assistance to children in the Gaza Strip who face major obstacles, including the lack of food security and limited access to education and health services”.
It added that, through this support, it will be able to pursue its vital programmes and initiatives aimed at ameliorating the lives of children and maintaining their welfare.
Sumaira Chowdhury, the Unicef Representative to the Sultanate of Oman, expressed thanks to the Sultanate of Oman for this noble gesture towards children in Palestine. She stressed that this generous donation would have a moral impact in the lives of many children in the Gaza Strip "where children are in urgent need for basic life-saving support and looking for a better future".
Meanwhile, Israeli forces left Al Shifa Hospital in Gaza City on Monday after a two-week operation by special forces who detained hundreds of Palestinians and left a wasteland of destroyed buildings.
With access to Gaza's biggest hospital severely restricted, the Israeli and Palestinian versions differed sharply.
Palestinian officials called the raid on a hospital treating severely wounded patients a war crime, while Israeli officials said special forces units conducted a targeted strikes.
Thousands of Palestinians - 6,200 according to the Israeli military - had been sheltering in the complex, one of few locations in the north of Gaza with some access to electricity and water.
Ismail al Thawabta, Director of the Gaza media office, said Israeli forces had killed 400 Palestinians in and around the hospital including a woman doctor and her son, also a doctor, and put the facility out of action.
"They bulldozed the courtyards, burying dozens of bodies of martyrs in the rubble, turning the place into a mass graveyard," he said. "This is a crime against humanity."
Footage on social media, unverified by Reuters, showed corpses, some covered in dirty blankets, scattered around the charred hulk of the hospital, many of whose outer walls were missing. It showed ground heavily ploughed up, and numerous buildings outside the facility flattened or burned down.
"I haven't stopped crying since I arrived here, horrible massacres were committed by the occupation here," said Samir Basel, 43, speaking via a chat app as he toured Al Shifa.
"The place is destroyed, buildings have been burnt and destroyed. This place needs to be rebuilt - there is no Shifa Hospital anymore."
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