He recently returned from a visit to the devastated enclave, Dr. Renée Van de Weerdtthe World Health Organization (WHO) in the occupied Palestinian territory, told reporters in Geneva: “Nothing prepares you for Gaza.”
“I thought going in the second time would make things easier, but it doesn’t,” he said.
Dr. Van de Weerdt stressed that since the October 2025 ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, At least 880 people have died in the Strip and more than 2,600 have been injured.
“There may be fewer fires, but the violence continues,” he said. “We heard bombs nearby. There are shots every day.”
Half of hospitals ‘partially functional’
The WHO representative painted a gloomy picture of the health situation in the enclave, noting that some 22 health attacks have been reported in Gaza this year and that only half of the hospitals are “partially functional”, while no hospital can be considered fully operational.
“One of the main reasons these facilities are not operating is because they are facing a critical shortage of medical supplies,” he explained.
Vital supplies and equipment are blocked across the Strip’s borders, Dr. Van de Weerdt said, with devastating effects on the health of the population.
“In Jordan there is a prefabricated hospital waiting for months to enter Gaza,” he said. “Laboratory equipment, reagents, oxygen concentrators, orthopedic items, not luxury items. These are essential items…necessary for the facility and the health system to function.”
Without laboratory equipment and reagents, “we cannot diagnose diseases or detect possible outbreaks,” the WHO representative insisted.
Blind to the buds
“We are talking about hantavirus, we are talking about Ebola virus. This is not luxury. This is the equipment we need to save lives, detect diseases, alert the world about potential outbreaks, and make sure people don’t die..”
“With the horrible living conditions, the overcrowding, the rodents, the lack of water and sanitation, one can imagine that this is an urgent need,” he stressed.
Dr. Van de Weerdt explained that some items are prohibited under Israeli regulations as “dual use” itemswhich are considered to have possible military uses. She rejected the application of the qualification to internationally recognized lists of essential medicines.
Prosthetic limbs considered suspicious
Prostheses, for example, are considered dual-use.. Some 5,000 amputees in Gaza are awaiting not only prosthetics but also corrective surgery to ensure that limb can fit properly.
“That surgery at the moment cannot be performed in Gaza,” he said. “So, These unfortunate people need to be on a waiting list to leave..”
The WHO has supported health authorities in organizing medical evacuations of thousands of patients to more than 30 countries.
Since its reopening in February, the Rafah crossing has been a key gateway through which patients can leave the Strip towards Egypt, Dr Van de Weerdt said, while from the Kerem Shalom crossing, which can be used up to once a week, patients can go “through a very long and complicated path to Jordan”.
The WHO representative said there are extreme difficulties associated with medical evacuations for patients and their families.
“Often, only one or two family members can leave and the conditions for return are not always in place.” he said. “We continue to advocate for medical evacuations for very specialized cases. But we also want to make sure that an increasing number of the thousands and thousands of people who need specialized care in Gaza today… can receive treatment in Gaza.”
A key provider of health services in Gaza is the United Nations agency for Palestine refugees, OOPSalthough Israeli parliamentary prohibitions on its activity have greatly complicated its operations.
UNRWA Health Director Dr. Akihiro Seita told reporters in Geneva that last year, the agency provided 4.5 million medical consultations in the enclave, or about 40 percent of the total volume of medical consultations.
Irreplaceable OOPS
Dr. Van de Weerdt of the WHO insisted that “No one can replace what UNRWA is doing.”
Dr. Seita deplored the fact that “due to the Knesset bills against UNRWA,” the agency cannot bring medicines within Gaza and the West Bank and lost two of its health centers in East Jerusalem earlier this year, which used to serve 11,000 patients a year.
The UNRWA official highlighted the fact that nearly 400 agency staff were killed in the Gaza war. Thousands of people continue to help desperate Gazans and face dire conditions on the ground.
“Many of our staff still live in tents,” he said. “A staff member told me, which I[‘ll] never forget it…’I feel like I have become an orphan of the world. Nobody takes care of us. they forgot us.’”
