Palestinian health officials call for world medical relief as Gaza death toll nears 2,700

The health ministry urged the world to send medical teams.

“We call on the world, international organizations and emergency action relief to send voluntary medical delegations from all specialties to rescue the wounded civilians of the Gaza Strip,” Marwan Abu Saada, director general of International Cooperation at the Ministry of Health, said during a news briefing.

Palestinian health officials have previously accused Israeli forces of targeting medical workers.

A spokesperson from the Palestinian interior ministry in Gaza also announced there are “more than 1,000 bodies” trapped under destroyed homes.

“We warn of a humanitarian and environmental catastrophe due to more than 1,000 martyr bodies under the ruins of destroyed houses,” said Eyad Al-Buzm, a spokesperson for the ministry.

He warned that the dead bodies would lead to disease and an even bigger death toll.

“This will cause an environmental disaster and the spread of epidemics due to the decomposition of the martyrs’ bodies,” Buzm added.

A Palestinian humanitarian official also stated Sunday hospitals in Gaza are under constant bombardment and facing imminent shutdown due to a lack of fuel.

Speaking to CNN’s Erin Burnett from Ramallah in the West Bank, Palestinian Red Crescent Director General Marwan Jilani said food, water, medicine, and fuel are in critically short supply.

“Vast destruction throughout Gaza is immense. We’ve never seen something like this,” Jilani added.

He said hospitals in the coastal enclave have only enough fuel for Monday, and perhaps the day after. They cannot operate without fuel, he added.

Jilani called for a ceasefire to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza from the Rafah crossing. He noted Israel and Egypt were ready to facilitate aid delivery, contingent upon a cessation of hostilities.

The Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt, the only remaining outlet for aid, has been closed for much of the past week, with tons of vital humanitarian supplies for people in Gaza piling up on the Egyptian side of the border.