We urge Israel to lift the Gaza blockade: WHO chief
May 22, 2024
Geneva [Switzerland], May 22: In a briefing, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, head of the World Health Organisation, has said that even though supplies were pre-positioned supplies in warehouses and hospitals, life-saving aid is dwindling fast in Gaza.
"Without more aid flowing into Gaza, we cannot sustain our lifesaving support to hospitals and the population", he said. "WHO and partners have managed to deliver small amounts of fuel to hospitals in recent days, but this falls far short of the 50-to-60 thousand litres of fuel that are needed each day for health operations", he continued.
"Without fuel, ambulances can't reach patients, and life-saving services like dialysis can't continue".
Major crossings into Gaza have been shut since early this month when the Israeli army seized and closed the Rafah crossing with Egypt.
Tedros again reiterated his belief that a ceasefire is the only thing that can improve the humanitarian aid situation in Gaza.
Meanwhile, the Civil Defence said among the bodies recovered by its crews following an Israeli attack was that of a child "not more than a year old".
It said that injured survivors of the attack, which targeted a house on al-Sahaba Street in the Daraj neighbourhood in Gaza City, were taken to a local hospital for treatment.
Video footage captured by Al Jazeera's cameras showed the search for survivors among the rubble of the destroyed house.
"We were suddenly bombed, and we found that the house of the Shobaki family was bombed and we dug with our hands to reach the martyrs and the injured, and now we continue digging to reach any other stranded," a witness from the neighbourhood to Al Jazeera.
Israeli tanks have fired several rounds at the gates of the emergency department of Kamal Adwan Hospital, Wafa news agency reported, citing Hossam Abu Sfiya, the director of the hospital in Beit Lahia, north Gaza.
Local sources also reported that the hospital was currently being evacuated of wounded, patients and medical staff.
Source: Qatar Tribune
