WHO decries ‘decimation’ of health system in Gaza as death toll nears 21k

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a social media post on Sunday that the decimation of the Gaza health system was a tragedy. He also reiterated his call for an immediate ceasefire.

“The decimation of the Gaza health system is a tragedy,” WHO chief posted on X, formerly Twitter.

“We persist in calling for CeasefireNow.”

“In the face of constant insecurity and inflows of wounded patients, we see doctors, nurses, ambulance drivers and more continue striving to save lives,” Tedros added.

The UN health agency has long been sounding the alarm about the state of health care in the besieged territory.

The remarks come as hospitals, protected under international humanitarian law, have repeatedly been hit by Israeli strikes since the war erupted.

Of Gaza’s original 36 hospitals, only nine are now partially functional, all of them in the south and all of them overwhelmed.

After missions last week to two badly damaged hospitals in the north, WHO staff described unbearable scenes of largely abandoned patients, including young children, begging for food and water.

Elsewhere in his remarks, the WHO chief also hailed Gaza’s medical workers who continue their work under increasingly dire circumstances.

Also in a statement on Sunday, the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) announced its doctors and midwives “are doing everything possible to provide care for post-natal and high-risk pregnant women at the seven operational UNRWA health centres” – down from 22 before the bloodiest-ever Israeli assault on Gaza began.

The US-Israeli genocidal campaign in the Gaza strip is in its third month, with the unending bloodshed claiming more and more Palestinian lives.

The total death toll stands at over 20,400. Also more than 54,000 people have been injured. The majority of the victims are women and children.

Those who have survived the war are living in dire conditions. Vast areas of Gaza lie in ruins and its 2.4 million people have endured dire shortages of water, food, fuel and medicine.