Jordan Daily – The World Health Organization (WHO) on Tuesday called for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, where it said it was unable to distribute fuel and essential health supplies to major hospitals due to lack of security guarantees.
Some of the facilities waiting for WHO supplies and fuel in northern Gaza include Al-Shifa hospital, where bed occupancy is already close to 150%, the Indonesian Hospital, which shut down some critical services last night due to lack of fuel, and the Turkish Friendship Hospital, the only oncology hospital in the enclave, which remains partially functional, putting around 2000 cancer patients at risk.
Six hospitals across the Gaza Strip have already closed due to lack of fuel or damage from attacks, the WHO said in a statement.
It warned that thousands of vulnerable patients risked death or medical complications as critical services shut down due to lack of power, including 1000 patients dependent on dialysis, 130 premature babies who need a range of care, and patients in intensive care or requiring surgery.
With support from UNRWA, the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees, the WHO delivered 34,000 liters of fuel to four major hospitals in southern Gaza and the Palestine Red Crescent Society on Monday to sustain its ambulance services.
But this was only enough to keep ambulances and critical hospital functions running for a little over 24 hours, it said.
Some of WHO’s medicines and health supplies have already been delivered to four key hospitals in southern Gaza, as well as to the Palestine Red Crescent Society for distribution to two of its health facilities and ambulance crews.
WHO teams delivering the supplies said health staff were so relieved to have replenishments, they took boxes of supplies off the trucks and straight into operating theatres, where doctors have been performing surgeries without anesthesia or other basic surgical supplies.
The situation in the Gaza Strip was desperate and would become catastrophic without the safe and continuous passage of fuel and health supplies, and additional humanitarian assistance, the WHO said.
It reiterated its calls for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire for the safe delivery of health supplies and fuel throughout the Gaza Strip.
