The World Health Organization (WHO) raised alarms over the escalating healthcare crisis in Gaza following new evacuation orders in Gaza City, hindering the treatment of the injured.
WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on X platform: “Theres really no safe corner in Gaza. The latest reports on evacuation orders in Gaza City will further impede delivery of very limited life saving care.” WHO said that major hospitals, such as “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.” WHO explained that the “Indonesian Hospital is triple over its capacity,” struggling to cope with the influx of patients.
“Al-Helou Hospital is within the blocks of the evacuation order but continues to be partially functional,” WHO added.
“As-Sahaba and Al-Shifa hospitals are in close proximity to the areas under evacuation
order but remain functional so far,” WHO said.
Additionally, six medical points and two primary healthcare centers fall within the evacuation zones, further straining the healthcare infrastructure.
In the same context, WHO spokesperson Tarik Jasarevic affirmed in a UN press briefing in Geneva that of 36 hospitals in Gaza, only 13 are partially functioning.
Jasarevic stressed that patients and medical staff evacuated three hospitals in one week in southern Gaza in fear of intensified military activities that could render the health facilities non-functional or inaccessible.
He said that “Out of 11 field hospitals in the Gaza Strip, three had to temporarily shut down and four are only partially functioning, “due to the hostilities in Rafah and reduced access,” adding that most of the field hospitals in Rafah will move to the central region.
Jasarevic explained that no WHO trucks crossed into Gaza last week since the Karm Abu Salem Commercial crossing was closed by the Israeli occupation authorities.
The o
ccupation forces continue to commit the crime of genocide in the Gaza Strip, by launching dozens of air strikes and artillery shelling, in an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe, further complicated by the cessation of supplies of food, water, medicine and fuel.
Since Oct. 7, 2023, the death toll from the Israeli occupation’s aggression against the Gaza Strip has risen to 38,243 martyrs and 88,333 wounded.
Source: Qatar News Agency