WHO demands that Israel protect civilians and allow aid into Gaza

The World Health Organization (WHO) demanded that Israel protect civilians and health personnel in the Gaza Strip, allow the entry of aid and revoke its hospital evacuation orders.

“We reiterate that the evacuation of medical centers is impossible without endangering the lives of patients,” the entity stressed on social networks.

The WHO recalled that according to International Humanitarian Law, health care must always be protected, and reported that many hospitals in the sector have been damaged by the intense bombings.

“Hospitals are filled with seriously injured patients and there is no end in sight to the influx of victims,” it noted, adding that medical supplies and fuel needed to operate hospitals are dangerously low.

The Palestinian Red Crescent criticized the threats of the Israeli Army against the Al-Quds hospital, located in the north of the Strip, and released images of numerous Palestinians, mostly children and women, who left their homes to seek protection there. “Civilians, hospitals and medical personnel should not be a target,” the entity stated.

According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, 34 percent of hospitals and 65 percent of primary health care centers in the territory have stopped functioning since the beginning of the current escalation.

There were also 69 attacks on health facilities, 12 of which were rendered inoperative, including the International Eye Hospital, Dar Al-Salam, Al-Yemen Al-Saeed, the Psychiatric Hospital, and the Al-Durra Children’s Hospital.