WHO alarmed by number of starving patients in Gaza hospitals

Most hospitals are out of service in Gaza and in the next six weeks the entire population risks experiencing a high level of food insecurity, leading to famine, according to the UN.

While inspecting hospitals in Gaza, World Health Organization teams found “increasing despair due to hunger”. WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus expressed alarm, Sunday, December 24, of the number of hungry patients that its teams encountered during a mission launched on Saturday to enable the delivery of more than 19,000 liters of fuel oil to the al-Chifa hospital, the largest in the Palestinian territory, which was besieged by the Israeli army in November. On X (ex-twitter), he pleaded for “an immediate increase in (the delivery of) food and water to guarantee the health and stability of the population”.

The head of the WHO also reported that desperate residents had grabbed food aid from a truck heading to the hospital. “In this context of serious food shortages, the quest for food (…) pushes some – desperate – to take food from delivery trucks”he wrote.

“Everyone we talk to is hungry,” echoes Sean Casey, member of the WHO mission in a video he filmed in al-Chifa hospital and posted on X. “There is a risk of famine“, he warned.

The capacities of al-Chifa hospital are “on their knees”

Sean Casey also described overloaded surgical departments, specifying that he had not been able to assess the functioning of the operating theaters “because there are people inside and they will not open the door.” According to the head of the WHO, “the incessant fighting and a massive number of wounded have brought the capacity (of al-Chifa hospital) to its knees”added Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, specifying that the establishment cannot provide as is “only the most basic first aid”.

In addition to al-Chifa hospital, WHO teams also visited Al-Sahaba and Al-Helou maternity wards, which jointly record up to 35 births per day, all against a backdrop of a shortage of fuel to run the generators, food, water, oxygen, antibiotics and anesthetics.

Despite the vote on Friday by the UN Security Council of a resolution calling for the delivery “immediate” And “in large scale” humanitarian aid, this has not seen a significant increase and the inhabitants lack everything. The Jordanian army announced Sunday evening that its air forces had dropped aid to around 800 people taking refuge in St. Porphyry Church in northern Gaza.

For their part, Egyptian and Qatari mediators are still trying to negotiate a new truce, after a seven-day break in fighting at the end of November, which allowed the release of 105 hostages and 240 Palestinian prisoners as well as the entry into Gaza of important humanitarian aid convoys.