By Deborah Nnamdi
The Director-General of the World Health Organization, WHO, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has called for an end to attacks on hospitals in Gaza after Israel struck one and raided another in the past few days.
Tedros made this call in a post on his official X handle on Monday.
“Hospitals in Gaza have once again become battlegrounds and the health system is under severe threat.
“We repeat: stop attacks on hospitals. People in Gaza need access to health care. Humanitarians need access to provide health aid. Ceasefire!” He added.
The Israeli military had said that Hamas militants were the targets of a strike on Gaza City’s Al Wafa hospital on Sunday, which the Palestinian civil defence said killed seven people.
According to health authorities in the enclave and Israel’s military, Israeli forces also detained more than 240 Palestinians including dozens of medical staff from Kamal Adwan hospital on Friday, among them was its director, Hussam Abu Safiya.
The Israeli military said the hospital was being used as a command centre for Hamas military operations and those arrested were suspected militants.
It further stated that Abu Safiya was taken for questioning as he was suspected of being a Hamas operative.
Tedros, who last week was caught up in an Israeli strike against Yemen’s main airport that he said might have cost him his life, called for Abu Safiya’s immediate release and said the Al-Ahli hospital had also faced attacks.
The WHO chief said the UN health agency and partners had delivered basic medical supplies, food and water to Gaza’s Indonesian hospital and transferred 10 critical patients to Al Shifa hospital.
“We urge Israel to ensure their health care needs and rights are upheld,” Tedros said.
According to Gaza’s health ministry, no fewer than 45,514 Palestinians have been killed and 108,189 wounded in Israel’s military offensive in Gaza since the Hamas attacks of October 7, 2023.
