ZURICH (Reuters) – The head of the World Health Organization called on Monday for an end to attacks on hospitals in Gaza after Israel attacked one and ransacked another in the past few days.
“Hospitals in Gaza have once again become battlegrounds and the health system is under serious threat,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a statement on X.
“We repeat: stop the attacks on hospitals. The people of Gaza need access to health care. Humanitarians need access to provide medical aid. Cease fire!” he added.
Israel’s military said Hamas militants were the target of an attack on Al Wafa Hospital in Gaza City on Sunday, in which the Palestinian Civil Defense said seven people were killed.
Israeli forces also detained more than 240 Palestinians on Friday, including dozens of medical staff from Kamal Adwan Hospital, among them hospital director Hussam Abu Safiya, according to health authorities in the enclave and the Israeli military.
The Israeli military said the hospital was being used as a command center for Hamas military operations and that suspected militants had been arrested. Abu Safiya was said to have been taken in for questioning because he was suspected of being a Hamas operative.
Tedros, who was caught up in an Israeli attack on Yemen’s main airport last week that he said could have cost him his life, called for the immediate release of Abu Safiya and said Al-Ahli Hospital had also faced attacks.
Tedros said WHO and partners have delivered basic medical supplies, food and water to an Indonesian hospital in Gaza and transferred 10 critical patients to Al Shifa Hospital. Four patients were detained during the transfer, he said.
“We ask Israel to ensure that their health needs and rights are respected,” Tedros said.
At least 45,514 Palestinians have been killed and 108,189 wounded in the Israeli military offensive in Gaza since a Hamas attack on October 7, 2023, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health.
