WHO warns condition in northern Gaza ‘catastrophic’

Posting to X on Saturday, he said “a critical shortage of medical supplies, compounded by severely limited access, are depriving people of life saving care” in the north of the Palestinian territory.

His comments came after Israeli forces withdrew from Kamal Adwan hospital in northern Gaza earlier on Saturday, a day after storming it.

The siege “came at a heavy cost”, Tedros added.

The WHO chief stated 44 male hospital staff had been detained, leaving only female staff, the hospital director and one male doctor to care for nearly 200 patients “in desperate need of medical attention”.

“Reports of the hospital facilities and medical supplies being damaged or destroyed during the siege are deplorable,” Tedros wrote.

The whole health system in Gaza has been under attack for over a year. WHO cannot stress loudly enough that hospitals must be shielded from conflict at all times. Any attack of healthcare facilities is a violation of international humanitarian law.

Flouting a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire, Israel has continued a devastating offensive on Gaza since an attack last year by the Palestinian resistance group Hamas.

Nearly 43,000 people have since been killed, mostly women and children, and over 100,000 others injured, according to local health authorities.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its actions in Gaza.