Situation in Gaza Strip ‘getting worse by the hour’: WHO

Speaking to reporters via video link from Gaza, Richard Peeperkorn, WHO representative in the occupied Palestinian territory, stated Israeli bombing has intensified all around, including in the southern areas of Khan Younis and Rafah.

“I want to make this point very clear that we are looking at an increasing humanitarian disaster,” Peeperkorn added.

Peeperkorn said WHO had complied with an Israeli order to remove supplies from warehouses in Khan Younis a day earlir. He added WHO had been told the area would “most likely become an area of active combat in the coming days.”

“We want to make sure that we can actually deliver essential medical supplies,” he continued.

On average one child is killed every 10 minutes in Gaza, Peeperkorn stated, calling the situation “humanity’s darkest hour.”

“We are talking almost about 16,000 people killed, its more than 60% (are) women and children, and more than 42,000 people injured,” he told a UN press briefing in Geneva.

Peeperkorn added: “On average a child is killed every 10 minutes in Gaza. I think in that sense we are close by the humanity’s darkest hour.”

“We need a sustained cease-fire,” he urged.

WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Monday appealed to Israel to withdraw the order. Israel denied asking for the evacuation of wharehouses.

Since the start of the offensive, the Tel Aviv regime has killed at least 15,900 Palestinians, injured 42,000 others, and left vast swathes of Gaza in ruins.

It has also imposed a “complete siege” on the Palestinian territory, cutting off fuel, electricity, food, and water to more than two million people living there.