Tedros lamented that “the whole health system in Gaza has been under attack for over a year”, since Hamas’s Oct 7, 2023 attacks inside Israel sparked the war.
That attack resulted in the deaths of 1,206 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures. Dozens of hostages are still held by militants in Gaza.
Israel’s retaliatory campaign has killed 42,924 people in Gaza, the majority civilians, according to figures from the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry which the United Nations considers reliable.
“WHO cannot stress loudly enough that hospitals must be shielded from conflict at all times,” Tedros said, saying that “any attack of healthcare facilities is a violation of international humanitarian law”.
“The only path to safeguarding what remains of Gaza’s collapsing health care system is an immediate and unconditional ceasefire.”
