The head of the World Health Organization (WHO) issued a stark warning on Saturday, describing the humanitarian situation in northern Gaza as “catastrophic,” with intensified military operations compromising health facilities.
“The situation in northern Gaza is catastrophic,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus posted on social media platform X, highlighting critical shortages in medical supplies and severely restricted access to healthcare. He pointed specifically to Kamal Adwan Hospital, the last operational facility in the area, which came under Israeli forces’ assault on Friday, according to Gaza’s Ministry of Health.
The Ministry reported that the Israeli strike on Kamal Adwan Hospital in Jabalia refugee camp, a focus of Israel’s ongoing military campaign, killed at least two children in intensive care. The facility’s generators and oxygen stations were damaged, it said. Kamal Adwan doctors also reported that Israeli forces detained 44 of its 70 medical personnel; 14 of these, including the hospital director, were later released.
Besides detaining healthcare staff, Israeli forces allegedly apprehended patients and displaced individuals who had taken refuge in the hospital. While acknowledging military activity around Kamal Adwan, Israel’s armed forces denied targeting the hospital with direct fire or strikes.
Following the incident, Tedros confirmed that Gaza’s Ministry of Health informed the WHO that the siege of Kamal Adwan Hospital was lifted, though at “great cost.”
On Friday evening, WHO reported injuries to three health workers and another staff member during the assault and noted that dozens of healthcare professionals were detained within the hospital. An estimated 600 individuals, including patients, staff, and displaced persons, were inside during the siege, the organization added.
Following the detention of 44 male and one female healthcare workers, only the hospital director and one doctor remained to care for nearly 200 patients requiring urgent medical attention, WHO officials reported.
Meanwhile, Doctors Without Borders (MSF) expressed concerns over one of its surgeons, Mohammed Obeid, who went missing after seeking refuge and working at Kamal Adwan Hospital. MSF stated they had been unable to reach him since Friday and urged for the protection and safety of medical staff throughout Gaza.
Tedros underscored the longstanding crisis facing Gaza’s healthcare system, which he said “has been under attack for over a year.” Reaffirming international law, he stated that hospitals must be safeguarded from conflict, adding, “Any assault on hospital facilities constitutes a violation of international humanitarian law.”
The WHO chief called for an “immediate, unconditional ceasefire” as the only viable means of protecting what remains of Gaza’s collapsing healthcare system.
