UN agencies warn of humanitarian disaster in Gaza amid aid blockade, evacuation challenges

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UN agencies warn of humanitarian disaster in Gaza amid aid blockade, evacuation challenges

2025-05-17 17:19 Last Updated At：05-20 10:21

Palestinians in the Gaza Strip continue to face a terrible humanitarian situation, said spokespersons from several United Nations agencies on Friday, citing difficulties in evacuating patients and the ongoing Israeli blockade of humanitarian aid.

Speaking via video link at a press conference in Geneva, Switzerland, Margaret Harris, spokesperson for the World Health Organization (WHO), stressed that local medical workers are doing their utmost to treat the injured despite severe shortages of medical supplies.

She underscored that many patients are in urgent need of medical treatment outside Gaza.

"So far we've only had 255 patients in total evacuated since 18 March, and as I said last week, more than 10,000 patients, including approximately 4,500 children, need urgent medical care outside Gaza," said Harris.

At the same time, Gaza is increasingly facing shortages of basic supplies. Israel blocked the entry of goods and supplies into Gaza on March 2, following the end of the first phase of a January ceasefire deal with Hamas. It resumed attacks on Gaza on March 18.

According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the UN and its partners have 9,000 truckloads of vital supplies ready to move into Gaza. More than half of these contain food assistance, months' worth of food for millions of people.

Though Israel has said its blockade aims to prevent Hamas from using aid supplies for military purposes, OCHA spokesperson Jens Laerke called the legitimacy of this claim into question. "I received this morning of some of the aid that's waiting just outside the borders to get in. It includes educational supplies, children's bags, shoes -- size three to four years old and up to 10 years old, stationery and toys, rice, wheat flour, canned beans, eggs, pasta, various sweets, tents, water tanks, cold storage boxes, breastfeeding kits, breast milk substitutes, energy biscuits, shampoo and hand soap, floor cleaner. I ask you, how much war can you wait with this?" he said.

More than 53,000 people in Gaza have died since the Palestinian-Israeli conflict broke out in October 2023.

China's smart consumer device industry sees rapid growth amid policy boost

2025-07-13 22:01 Last Updated At：22:37

China's smart consumer device manufacturing sector has seen rapid growth this year, fueled by a government-backed trade-in program and the expansion of diversified consumption scenarios.

From January to May, the country's electronic information manufacturing industry maintained strong momentum, with total revenue of enterprises above the designated size reaching 6.49 trillion yuan (some 900 billion U.S. dollars), up 9.4 percent year on year.

Production of electronic consumer goods recorded steady increases. Over 140 million computers were produced during the period, up 8 percent from a year earlier, while 14.04 million television units rolled off assembly lines, up 1.7 percent year on year.

"Consumption scenarios are becoming more diversified. On the demand side, new smart products are quickly entering the market, opening up emerging markets in home services, health management, and beyond. On the supply side, the industry is clearly moving toward transformation and upgrading, with new growth drivers accelerating," said Zuo Kairui, director of the Industry Development Department of the Institute of Policy and Economics at the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology.

Looking ahead to the second half of the year, China plans to go on promoting its "AI plus consumer goods" initiative, encouraging the development and application of new technologies such as smart wearables, ultra-high-definition video, brain-computer interfaces, and robotics.

Meanwhile, authorities will continue to foster high-growth consumer sectors and guide the smart device industry toward greener, more service-oriented development.