WHO chief calls for end to attacks on Gaza hospitals after deadly Israeli strikes
The head of the World Health Organization (WHO) called on Monday for an end to attacks on hospitals in Gaza after Israel hit one and attacked another in the past few days.
“Hospitals in Gaza have once again become battlegrounds, and the health system is under serious threat,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a post on X.
“We repeat. stop attacks on hospitals. Gazans need access to health care. Humanitarians need a cease-fire.”
The Israeli military said Hamas militants targeted Gaza's Al Wafa hospital on Sunday, killing seven people, the Palestinian Civil Defense said.
The World Health Organization (WHO) said a major hospital in Gaza was closed on Friday as a result of the Israeli attack. Kamal Advan Hospital was the last operating hospital in northern Gaza, and WHO spokeswoman Margaret Harris said it was “vital” for local Palestinians. salvation is gone.
Israeli forces also arrested more than 240 Palestinians on Friday, including dozens of medical staff at Kamal Advan Hospital. Its director, Hussam Abu Safia, is among those arrested, according to the enclave's health authorities and the Israeli military.
The Israeli military said the hospital was being used as a command center for Hamas military operations, and that those arrested were suspected militants.
Tedros, who was caught last week in an Israeli attack on Yemen's main airport that he said could have cost him his life, called for Abu Safia's immediate release and said al-Ahli hospital had also come under attack.
Tedros said WHO and partners had delivered basic medical supplies, food and water to an Indonesian hospital in Gaza, and 10 critically ill patients to Al Shifa Hospital, he said, adding that four patients had been detained during the transfer.
“We call on Israel to ensure their health needs and rights are protected,” Tedros said.
At least 45,541 Palestinians were killed and 108,338 were injured as a result of the Israeli military attack on the Gaza Strip, according to the Gaza Strip Ministry of Health.
The war began on October 7, 2023, with an attack by Hamas on southern Israel, in which an estimated 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken hostage in Gaza, according to Israeli figures.
