WHO highlights catastrophic situation of healthcare in Rafah

ATHENS

The World Health Organization (WHO) on Thursday highlighted the severe situation of healthcare in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip where Israel entered on May 6 despite international opposition. Israeli forces have time and again attacked and besieged medical facilities in the last eight months of conflict in the Palestinian territory.

“Intense hostilities have severely crippled health care provision in Rafah where tens of thousands of vulnerable people still remain,” director general of the organization Tedros Ghebreyesus said on X.

Saying that only ICRC field hospital Rafah Al-Mawasi remains fully operational and the UAE field hospital in Rafah city is currently the only facility in the area providing health services, he said: “Insecurity and ongoing closure of the Rafah crossing continue to compromise our ability to get supplies and staff into and around Gaza to keep health services – a life line for Gazans - functional.

“We call for a cease-fire. We call for safety for all patients and health workers. We call for the protection of all civilians. We call for the opening of the Rafah crossing,” he added.

Besides killing more than 36,000 Palestinians since the Oct. 7 Hamas attack that claimed 1,200 lives, the Israeli military campaign has turned much of the enclave of 2.3 million people into ruins, leaving most civilians homeless and at risk of famine.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, which in its latest ruling ordered Tel Aviv to immediately halt its operation in Rafah.