WHO warns of devastating consequences from delays in medical aid to Gaza

Repeated delays in bringing life-saving medicines, prosthetics and other supplies from Israel into Gaza risk having “devastating consequences” for Palestinians who urgently need them, the World Health Organization (WHO) has said.

Approved aid can enter Gaza only through Kerem Shalom, at the southern tip of the territory, while Rafah, also in the south, is open only for limited movement of people, including patients needing medical treatment abroad, the WHO said on Friday.

“A truck full of non-priority supplies or the right supplies arriving too late, doesn’t save lives. That’s the question that actually matters,” Reinhilde Van De Weerdt, the WHO’s representative in Palestine, said.

Van De Weerdt called on Israeli authorities to “release the pressure on medical supplies”, saying essential medicines “should not be considered as dual use, as they are globally accepted standards on medical items anybody needs anywhere to run a hospital or a clinic”.

She added that one shipment of prosthetics and assistive devices had been rejected four times over the past six months.

“Every rejection means another delay for someone who has already lost a limb and is simply waiting for the chance to walk again,” she said, noting that medicines “by contrast, move relatively well”, with almost 87 percent approved and just over 1 percent rejected.

“Our ask is simple and has not changed: we need the unimpeded and predictable entry of humanitarian and health supplies into Gaza at scale. We also need a multi-crossing model so that aid isn’t forced to trickle down through a limited number of crossings,” Van De Weerdt said.

Four other main entry points into Gaza – Kissufim, Gate 96, Erez and Erez West – remain closed and under total Israeli control.

She praised the “extraordinary health workers” still risking their lives in Gaza, who she said were not receiving enough supplies to give patients the care they needed.

Winter and disease risk

“As winter begins, this urgency to get supplies into Gaza only deepens,” Van De Weerdt said. “Almost two million people are in need of shelter to protect against the cold and the risk of flooding, exposing people to serious health and safety risks, let alone their dignity.”

She said residents faced a heightened risk of preventable disease outbreaks linked to the lack of safe shelter and clean water, and a high number of rats whose bites transmit infection, a threat made harder to track by the destruction of public health laboratories.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) warned on Thursday of serious public health risks from the accumulation of solid waste in Gaza City, where sanitation gains remain fragile because of a lack of reliable access to heavy machinery, engine oil, spare parts and fuel funding.

Almost 12 months into a fragile “ceasefire” between Hamas and Israel, marked by continuing Israeli air attacks and other military activity, Gaza’s humanitarian situation remains “overwhelming”, according to OCHA.