WHO: Continued delivery of medical supplies to Gaza is vital

The head of the World Health Organization (WHO) said continued deliveries of medical supplies to Gaza were "vital", as WHO trucks carrying aid headed towards the border on Wednesday.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the United Nations health agency has dispatched ten trucks from El-Arish in Egypt to the Kerem border crossing in Israel to the Gaza Strip.

The trucks are carrying "essential medicines, laboratory equipment and water testing," he said, while two more trucks with medical supplies, along with blood donations, are expected to leave for Gaza on Thursday.

"All WHO supplies will then be sent to Gaza, along with three truckloads of medical supplies sent by our health partners," Tedros said on the X platform.

"The health needs in Gaza are great. It is vital that there are continued deliveries of medical supplies to Gaza. We continue to call for safe and unhindered access for medical aid to and within Gaza as well as for a ceasefire. Peace is the best medicine," he added.

Israel imposed a full blockade on Gaza on March 2 after ceasefire talks failed. In late May, Israel began allowing small amounts of aid in, amid recent reports of starvation and hunger-related deaths.

This week, Israel began daily halts in military operations in some areas of Gaza and opened safe corridors to enable food distribution by UN agencies and other humanitarian organizations in the territory, home to over 2 million people.

The WHO said that in Gaza, airstrikes and shortages of medical supplies, food and water have left the health system “nearly destroyed.” Many hospitals are out of service, while others, according to the WHO, are barely functioning.

A WHO spokesman told AFP that nine agency trucks entered Gaza on June 25; four on June 28; eleven on July 8; and six more on July 20.

The war in Gaza began on October 7, 2023, when Hamas radicals - the Palestinian group designated a terrorist organization by the United States and the European Union - attacked southern Israel, killing nearly 1,200 people and kidnapping nearly 250 others. About 50 people are believed to still be held in Gaza, while others have been released under preliminary ceasefire agreements./ REL (A2 Televizion)