“Only 19 of Gaza Strip’s 36 hospitals remain operational, including one hospital providing basic care for the remaining patients still inside the hospital, and are struggling under severe supply shortages, lack of health workers, persistent insecurity, and a surge of casualties, all while staff work in impossible conditions. Of the 19 hospitals, 12 provide a variety of health services, while the rest are only able to provide basic emergency care. At least 94% of all hospitals in the Gaza Strip are damaged or destroyed,” the report says.
It adds that since the resumption of hostilities in the enclave on March 18, 2025, WHO has recorded 28 attacks on medical facilities, and since October 2023, there have been at least 697 such attacks.
“North Gaza has been stripped of nearly all health care. In southern Gaza hospitals are overwhelmed by a surge of injured people. Currently, across the Gaza Strip, only 2,000 hospital beds remain available, for a population of over 2 million people, grossly insufficient to meet the current needs,” the report reads.
“Continued hostilities and military presence inhibit patients from accessing care, obstruct staff from providing care, and prevent WHO and partners from resupplying hospitals.”
The organization called for an immediate and permanent ceasefire in the region, reiterating that “the UN and its partners have a clear, principled and effective plan to deliver aid with safeguards against diversion, a system that has worked and must be enabled to continue.”
Since March 2, Gaza has faced a full blockade of essential humanitarian supplies, compounded by the resumption of large-scale military attacks by Israeli forces.
Gaza faces catastrophic hunger levels, with UN agencies warning of imminent famine in northern Gaza, in particular, if aid access does not significantly improve.
Since March 2, Gaza has faced a full blockade of essential humanitarian supplies, compounded by the resumption of large-scale military attacks by Israeli forces.
Rejecting international calls for a ceasefire, the Israeli army has pursued a brutal offensive against Gaza since October 2023, killing more than 53,800 Palestinians, most of them women and children.
Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.
