The World Health Organization's director-general said on Wednesday that the “health and humanitarian” situation in the Gaza Strip was “inhumane” after more than four months of war sparked by the Hamas attack.
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“What world do we live in when people don't get food or water, or when people who can't even walk don't get care?” Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said during a regular press conference in Geneva.
“What world do we live in when healthcare workers are at risk of being bombed while doing their jobs? What world do we live in when hospitals are forced to close because there is no electricity or medicine to save patients and they are targeted by the military? he continued.
In his eyes, “the health and humanitarian situation in Gaza is inhumane and continues to deteriorate.”
More generally: “Gaza has become a death zone,” asserted the head of the WHO, using an expression that he has already used. “Much of the territory has been destroyed, more than 29,000 people are dead, many more are missing, presumed dead and many, many more are injured,” he added.
He also noted that the severity of malnutrition in Gaza has increased dramatically since the start of the war, from less than 1% to over 15% in some places.
“We need a ceasefire now! The hostages must be released, the bombs must stop falling and access to humanitarian aid must be free. “Humanity must win,” said Dr. Tedros.
According to the United Nations, 2.2 million people, the vast majority of the population, are at risk of famine in the Gaza Strip, which has been under siege by Israel since the start of the war.
The situation is particularly worrying in the north, where there is “chaos and violence,” according to the United Nations World Food Program (WFP), which on Tuesday suspended the distribution of its aid to the sector.
Subject to Israel's approval, humanitarian aid enters Gaza mainly through Rafah and Egypt, but its transport north is made almost impossible by the destruction and fighting that isolates this region from the rest of the territory.
The October 7 attack by the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas killed around 1,160 people in Israel, most of them civilians, according to an AFP report based on official Israeli figures.
According to the Hamas-controlled Ministry of Health in the Gaza Strip, the offensive launched in Israel's response has since left at least 29,313 dead.