'Unconscionable': WHO chief deplores Israeli attack on Red Crescent in Gaza

By Dilara Hamit

Head of the World Health Organization (WHO) on Wednesday deplored Israeli strikes that killed at least five civilians including a five-day-old infant at a hospital run by the Palestine Red Crescent Society in Gaza.

"I deplore today’s strikes on the Palestine Red Crescent Soceity-run Al-Amal hospital in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis, which severely damaged the Palestine Red Crescent Society training centre located within the hospital complex," Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on X.

He added that his colleagues undertook a mission to the facilities, where they "witnessed extensive damage and displacement of civilians."

Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip since the Oct. 7 Hamas offensive have killed more than 22,000 people, most of them women and children. The bombardment, along with a ground incursion, has left the besieged enclave in ruins, with more than half of the 2.2 million population displaced and facing shortages of food, water and medicine.

The official death toll from the Hamas attack in Israel stands at 1,200.

Tedros said 14,000 people were sheltering at the hospital, and that while many of them left, those remaining were extremely fearful for their safety and planning to leave a place they had turned to for refuge and protection.

"Hospitals, ambulances, health workers, and people seeking care must be protected, at all times, under international humanitarian law. Today’s bombardments are unconscionable. Gaza’s health system is already on its knees, with health and aid workers continuously stymied in their efforts to save lives due to the hostilities," said the chief of the UN health agency.

"I join international calls for an immediate ceasefire, including urgent action to ensure the accelerated and unimpeded flow of food, medical supplies, water and other essential items to millions of civilians forced to live in unspeakable conditions of hunger, disease spread, and lack of hygiene and sanitation," he added.

Tedros emphasized that only a small amount of supplies are being received, and only a fraction of Gazans in need of medical evacuation are being evacuated.

"This is unacceptable in light of the dire humanitarian catastrophe which has unfolded over three months. Indeed, WHO’s movements, particularly in northern Gaza and increasingly in the south, have been severely impeded by the ongoing violence inside Gaza. Our operations are further impeded when essential local partners, like the Red Crescent, are themselves needlessly impacted by the strikes," he said.

"If the conditions for a cease-fire in hostilities have not been met by now, I do not know what it will take. WHO reiterates that health must never be a target during conflicts, and all effort must be taken to protect health facilities, health workers, and patients."