Geneva - Saba:
The World Health Organization (WHO) called for the need to lift the blockade on aid to Gaza Strip and the immediate resumption of medical evacuation by all possible means where thousands of patients are waiting.
The organization's representative in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, Rick Peeperkorn, said in a press statement on Monday that the "Israeli" bombing of Al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza City has increased the pressure on the remaining health facilities in the occupied Palestinian territories, where the "Israeli" authorities impose severe restrictions on the delivery of aid and the movement of humanitarian workers.
"I was in Gaza Strip a few weeks ago and left early last month, just before the start of the aid blockade and the renewed attacks," he said, recounting the dire conditions he saw at Al-Ahli Hospital before the attack, and the severe restrictions on movement that prevent thousands from being evacuated to receive treatment outside Gaza.
Peeperkorn said I spoke today with my team leaders in Gaza Strip, who visited Shifa Hospital, which is now the main surgical center in the north, suffering from severe pressure and lack of support," he said, noting that the possibility of transferring some patients from Shifa to the south is being explored, but the situation is complicated.
He added that very few patients have been able to leave Gaza Strip to receive urgently needed care, noting that up to 12,000 patients need medical evacuation, but since the blockade began, we have only been able to evacuate 121 people, including 73 children, reiterating the call for the immediate resumption of medical evacuations by all possible means and now.
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