WHO chief raises alarm over escalating healthcare crisis in Gaza

The World Health Organization (WHO) has raised the alarm over the escalating healthcare crisis in the Gaza Strip amid continuous US-Israeli genocidal war in the war-ravaged besieged territory.

On Tuesday, the WHO director-general made the remarks in an online post following the new evacuation orders in Gaza City.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said, "There is really no safe corner in Gaza.”

“The latest reports on evacuation orders in Gaza City will further impede the delivery of very limited life-saving care,” he wrote.

Adhanom Ghebreyesus also underscored the severe impact these orders have on the already limited medical services in the region.

“Al-Ahli and Patient Friendly hospitals are out of service. Patients either self-evacuated, were given early discharge or referred to Kamal Adwan and Indonesian hospitals, which are suffering shortage of fuel, beds and trauma medical supplies. Indonesian Hospital is triple over its capacity,” he wrote.

“Al-Helou Hospital is within the blocks of the evacuation order but continues to be partially functional. As-Sahaba and Al-Shifa hospitals are in close proximity to the areas under evacuation order but remain functional so far,” he added.

The WHO director-general pointed out that eight centers are within the evacuation zones, further straining the healthcare infrastructure.

“These key hospitals and medical facilities could quickly become non-functional due to hostilities in their vicinity or obstruction to access,” he wrote.

WHO has repeatedly reiterated the call for a ceasefire to ensure the delivery of medical aid to those in desperate pressing need.

The Israeli military has launched a major assault on Rafah, the southernmost city in the Gaza Strip along the border with Egypt. The city is a refuge for more than 1.4 million Palestinians who have fled aggression farther north in the coastal sliver under the Israeli army’s previous evacuation orders.

The humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip has worsened as aid trucks remain stranded at the Rafah border crossing in Egypt.

Since the Israeli regime seized control of the Palestinian side of the Rafah border crossing, trucks carrying food and water have been stranded behind the border, some for nearly two months, awaiting permission to deliver the much-needed humanitarian supplies to Gaza.

The Israeli blockade of much-needed supplies is not only exacerbating the dire humanitarian crisis but also causing an escalation of tensions across the entire West Asia.

Israel launched the war on Gaza on October 7 after Palestinian resistance groups carried out a surprise retaliatory operation into the occupied territories.

WHO chief breaks down in tears describing 'hellish' Gaza conditions

The director-general of the World Health Organization (WHO) has broken down in tears while describing conditions in Gaza as “hellish”, and calling for a ceasefire.

Concomitantly with the war, the regime has been enforcing a near-total siege on the coastal territory, which has reduced the flow of foodstuffs, medicine, electricity, and water into the Palestinian territory into a trickle.

The Israeli war has killed at least 38,243 Palestinians so far, including around 17,000 children. Another 88,033 Palestinians have sustained injuries as well.

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