Severe fuel shortage has exacerbated health care situation in Gaza: WHO

The severe fuel shortage has exacerbated the health care situation in Gaza, World Health Organisation (WHO) Director-General, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said on Friday, who also called for an immediate re-opening of the Rafah Crossing, Anadolu Agency reports.

Only 90,000L (litres) of fuel entered Gaza yesterday. The health sector alone needs 80,000L daily, forcing the UN – including WHO – and partners to make impossible choices

he said in a statement posted on X.

Currently, partners are directing limited fuel supplies to key hospitals such as Nasser Medical Complex, Al-Amal Hospital and Kuwaiti Field Hospital and 21 ambulances, to keep services running, Ghebreyesus said, warning that losing more hospitals would be catastrophic.

We again issue an urgent appeal for the Rafah Crossing to be re-opened and for a sustained flow of fuel, food, water and medical supplies to be permitted into and across Gaza

he said.

Flouting a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire, Israel has faced international condemnation amid its continued brutal offensive on Gaza since a 7 October, 2023 attack by Hamas.

More than 38,000 Palestinians have since been killed, mostly women and children, and over 87,000 others injured, according to local health authorities.

Nearly nine months into the Israeli war, vast tracts of Gaza lie in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which in its latest ruling has ordered Tel Aviv to immediately halt its operation in the southern city of Rafah, where over a million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war before it was invaded on 6 May.

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