World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus reiterated on Wednesday, February 21, that the “health and humanitarian” situation in the Gaza Strip “is inhumane and continues to deteriorate” after more than four months of war. The trigger was the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023.
“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? “said Mr Tedros 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.
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.
Also read | Article reserved for our subscribers “The population of Gaza is mentally polytraumatized. She lives in a kind of constant terror.”
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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,” emphasized Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
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 of the enclave, where there is “chaos and violence,” according to the World Food Program, which on Tuesday suspended the distribution of its aid in this sector.
Humanitarian aid enters the Gaza Strip primarily through Rafah, subject to Israel's approval, but its transport north is made almost impossible by the destruction and fighting that isolates this region from the rest of the territory.