WHO: Gaza’s health system hanging by a thread amid the ongoing Israeli genocide, military siege

Geneva (Quds News Network) – The World Health Organization has warned that Gaza’s health system is hanging by a thread as health facilities throughout the Palestinian enclave cease to function, restrictions to access increase, medical supplies dwindle and cuts in other humanitarian aid essential for patient care grow.

Gaza’s Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, where an Israeli military operation is ongoing, is one of the latest casualties. WHO, together with the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), and the Palestine Red Crescent Society, recently conducted a high-risk mission to the medical facility to bring fuel and other essential supplies and evacuate patients in danger from the facility.

“The transfer of patients was requested by the hospital staff after the facility became nonfunctional following a military raid February 14, after a week-long siege,” WHO spokesman Tarik Jasarevic said on Tuesday.

“Weak and frail patients were transferred amidst active conflict near the aid convoy. Road conditions hindered the swift movement of ambulances, placing the health of patients at further risk,” he said.

Rik Peeperkorn, WHO representative for the Occupied Palestinian Territory who was part of the medical team, said the three-day mission was frustrated at every turn by military personnel around the compound.

In a telephone interview from Cairo on Monday, Peeperkorn told VOA that his team had requested access to the hospital several times to talk to the staff, “do a quick medical assessment, plan a medical evacuation and transfer patients when needed.”

He said the team was not allowed access for the first two days but was granted access to the hospital on the third day. He said the team managed to transfer 14 critical patients — eight nonwalking and six walking, along with two patient companions — to four other hospitals in the area.

WHO estimates that 130 sick and injured patients and at least 15 doctors and nurses remain inside the hospital.

Peeperkorn described conditions in the hospital as dire and deteriorating.

“The ICU is not functional,” he said. “The hospital has no electricity. We brought in some medical supplies. It has actually very little food and water, no basic supplies for oxygen, no running water, and there is garbage everywhere, creating a breeding ground for disease. There is also heavy damage everywhere.

“The limb reconstruction, which was the pride of Nasser Medical Complex, where a lot of amputations were prevented by excellent surgeons, is not functional anymore. Currently, you can say that the hospital, which is the largest referral hospital south of central Gaza, is not functional,” he said.

OCHA reports that the situation in Al Amal Hospital, also in Khan Younis, is also critical, following a four-week siege by the Israeli military. Food supplies reportedly are almost exhausted, and fuel reserves are dwindling.

Another serious issue is malnutrition. A joint WHO, UNICEF, World Food Program report issued Monday warns that “a steep rise in malnutrition among children and pregnant and breastfeeding women in Gaza Strip poses grave threats to their health.”