Key Takeaways
- The World Health Organization reports evacuation of patients from Gaza hospitals is impossible amid intense hostilities.
- A severe fuel outage is crippling health facilities and ambulance services in the region.
- Limited humanitarian aid enters Gaza after a partial easing of the blockade, but shortages persist.
Gaza: The office of the World Health Organization (WHO) in the occupied Palestinian territory said on Monday it was impossible to safely evacuate patients from Gaza hospitals.
The ongoing hostilities make evacuation risky despite the urgent need to do so.
“Hospitals in the north continue to receive evacuation orders.
WHO reiterates that evacuation of hospitals is impossible without endangering patients’ lives,” the organisation wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.
At the same time, the hospitals are running out of medical supplies, the organisation added.
“Fuel outage is already affecting functioning of health facilities and ambulances,” the WHO office added.
On October 7, Hamas launched a surprise large-scale rocket attack against Israel from the Gaza Strip and breached the border, killing and abducting people in neighbouring Israeli communities.
Israel launched retaliatory strikes and ordered a complete blockade of the Gaza Strip, home to more than two million people, cutting off supplies of water, food, and fuel.
The blockade was later eased to allow trucks with humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip.
The escalation of the conflict has resulted in thousands of people killed and injured on both sides.
