WHO chief deplores Israel’s Sunday attack on Rafah camp for displaced people

By Beyza Binnur Donmez

GENEVA (AA) - The World Health Organization (WHO) chief on Tuesday deplored Israel’s Sunday attack on a camp for displaced people in the city of Rafah in southern Gaza, causing the deaths of dozens.

"WHO deplores the airstrike on Sunday night in Rafah that reportedly killed 45 displaced people sheltering in tents," Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on X.

Tedros noted that the injured were brought for treatment to the "already overwhelmed" WHO-supported trauma stabilization point, as well as to other field hospitals in Rafah.

"As violence in Rafah continues escalating, almost a million displaced people are once again in search of safety that doesn’t exist in Gaza," he said.

He underscored that the ongoing closure of the Rafah border, lack of fuel, and aid getting into and across Gaza, and frequent mission delays and denials "have choked our ability to support the health system at a time when operations should be rapidly growing to meet the rising needs."

Only one-third of Gaza’s hospitals remain just partially functional and are struggling to meet the needs due to a lack of adequate supplies, equipment, fuel, and their exhausted staff, he added.

"Open the Rafah crossing. Ensure missions can proceed in a timely manner. Protect civilians and health care. Ceasefire," he urged.

At least 45 people were killed, mostly women and children, and nearly 250 others injured in the Israeli strike on the camp on Sunday.

The attack occurred near the logistics base of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) in Tal al-Sultan, said the Gaza-based Government Media Office.

Israel has killed more than 36,000 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip since a cross-border attack by the Palestinian group Hamas on Oct. 7 last year.

The military campaign has turned much of the enclave of 2.3 million people into ruins, leaving most civilians homeless and at risk of famine.

The latest attack came despite a ruling by the International Court of Justice that ordered Israel to halt its offensive in Rafah, where over 1 million Palestinians had sought refuge from the Israel-Hamas war before it was invaded on May 6.