Health system in Gaza is ‘on its knees,’ WHO chief tells UN Security Council

WASHINGTON (AA) – WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Friday that half of the hospitals in Gaza are non-operational, stressing that the health system in the Palestinian enclave is “on its knees”.

“Half of the Gaza Strip’s 36 hospitals and two-thirds of its primary health care centers are not functioning at all. Those that are functioning are operating way beyond their capacities,” he told a UN Security Council session on the Israeli war against Palestine.

“The health system is on its knees, and yet somehow is continuing to deliver lifesaving care,” he added.

According to the WHO chief, the best way to support the health workers and the people they serve is “by giving them the tools they need to deliver that care – medicines, medical equipment and fuel for hospital generators.”

“Field hospitals and emergency medical teams can complement and support existing hospitals and health workers in Gaza, but they cannot replace them,” he added.

The WHO chief said a child is killed every 10 minutes in Gaza on average, adding that 1.5 million people have been displaced, and are looking for shelter anywhere they can find it.

“But nowhere and no one is safe,” he said.

“As more and more people move to a smaller and smaller space, overcrowding is increasing the risks of outbreaks of diarrheal and respiratory disease and skin infections,” he added.

Four hospitals, representing some 430 beds, have been “put out of action” in the past 48 hours, according to the WHO chief.

More than 100 UN staff have been killed, he added.

– Attacks on hospitals

Marwan Jilani, Director-General of the Palestine Red Crescent, said his colleagues at Al-Quds hospital told him in a phone call two hours ago that one person was killed and 20 people were injured by direct firing at the hospital.

Jilani called on the Council members to prevent further deaths and sufferings in Gaza, adding that there are 14,000 displaced civilians at al-Quds hospital in addition to 400 others who are sick and wounded.

“The main generator was shut off two days ago because of lack of fuel. Right now there is a very serious risk that we will lose all the patients in the intensive care units and those children in incubators,” he continued.

“I was prepared to inform the council about the critical shortages of fuel, food and water,” he said, “But honestly, now our utmost concern is the direct threat to the lives of those wounded and sick.”

“At the same time, there has not been any drop of fuel that entered Gaza which is essential for every aspect of life for hospital operations, for pumping water, for bakeries, for ambulances, and for the trucks which are transporting the humanitarian aid,” he said.

“If this prohibition on fuel continues, we will not be able to continue to receive this aid and distribute it,” he added.

Almost all hospitals in the besieged Gaza Strip came under Israeli attacks and airstrikes in the last 24 hours, including Al-Shifa, which saw at least four rounds of Israeli airstrikes in the same period.

Israel’s military accuses Hamas of operating a command center at the site of the hospitals, a claim the group and hospital officials have denied.

Israel has launched relentless air and ground attacks on the Gaza Strip – including hospitals, residences, and houses of worship – since a cross-border attack by the Palestinian resistance group Hamas on Oct. 7.

It has killed at least 11,078 Palestinians, including 4,506 children and 3,027 women. The Israeli death toll, meanwhile, is nearly 1,600, according to official figures.​​​​​​​