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. 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. 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. 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.
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