WHO relief work in Gaza Strip hampered

In a post on social media X, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said a WHO-led mission to Al-Ahli Hospital in the Gaza Strip was stopped twice by Israeli forces at the Wadi checkpoint over the weekend, en route to the northern Gaza Strip and back. He said several Palestinian Red Crescent Society staff were also detained during the checks. The mission was transporting 19 critically ill patients and medical equipment to support 1,500 patients at Al-Ahli Hospital, which has been severely damaged since the conflict began in early October.

WHO said lengthy security checks and detention of health workers were putting patients at risk. Tedros said one patient died en route from serious injuries that were not treated in time due to delays.

This is not the first time health workers have been detained while on duty in the Gaza Strip. On November 18, a team transporting patients from Al-Shifa hospital was also stopped and six members were detained, four of whom have not yet been released, the WHO said.

On the same day, WHO representative in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, Richard Peeperkorn, said that only 11 hospitals in the Gaza Strip, or less than a third of the total number of hospitals in the strip, were still functioning but not fully. Speaking at a video press conference, the WHO official said that in just 66 days, the number of hospitals still functioning in the Gaza Strip had dropped sharply from 36 to 11, including 1 hospital in the north and 10 hospitals in the south. WHO hopes that no other hospitals will be paralyzed.

Meanwhile, Gaza health spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra said Israeli forces were raiding the Kamal Adwan hospital in the north after besieging and bombing the facility for several days. The Israeli military has not made any official announcement about the attack. According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the hospital is treating 65 patients, including 12 children in intensive care and six newborns in incubators. In addition, about 3,000 people evacuated from the conflict are also trapped at the facility without electricity, water and food, waiting to be taken to safety.