WHO teams deliver supplies to hospitals in Northern and Southern Gaza
New mass displacement of Palestinians fleeing fighting, health facilities crammed with people seeking refuge, food. Photo credit: WHO
27 December 2023 – Gaza: World Health Organization teams have undertaken high-risk missions to deliver supplies, with partners, to hospitals in Northern and Southern Gaza witnessing intense hostilities in their vicinity, high patient loads and overcrowding caused by people displaced by the conflict seeking refuge.
“Today I repeat my call on the international community to take urgent steps to alleviate the grave peril facing the population of Gaza and jeopardizing the ability of humanitarian workers to help people with terrible injuries, acute hunger, and at severe risk of disease,” said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General.
In WHO’s latest high-risk mission, teams visited on Tuesday 26 December two hospitals Al-Shifa in the north and Al-Amal Palestine Red Crescent Society in the south – to deliver supplies and assess needs on the ground.
Both hospitals also serve as shelters for displaced people seeking relative safety. At Al-Shifa Hospital, a reported 50 000 people are sheltering, while in Al-Amal there are 14 000.
At Al-Shifa, WHO delivered fuel to keep essential health services running. With UNICEF, WHO also delivered medical supplies for the hospital. And in support of NGO partner, the World Central Kitchen, delivered materials to support a kitchen at Al-Shifa. Medical supplies were also delivered to the Gaza Central Drug Store, which will act as a medical supply hub to