Evacuation orders, overcrowded hospitals, and blocked aid push critical care to the edge, UN agency says
Gaza's health system is "at a breaking point," the World Health Organization warned Tuesday, as military operations, mass displacement, and blocked humanitarian access push medical services across the strip toward collapse.
"As global attention shifts to escalating tensions between Iran and Israel, Gaza continues to be decimated--largely out of sight, but not out of danger," Richard Peeperkorn, WHO representative in the occupied Palestinian territory, told a UN briefing in Geneva.
Only 17 of Gaza's 36 hospitals are currently partially functional, with just four, including Nasser Medical Complex, serving as referral facilities.
"The health system simply can't afford the loss of Nasser hospital," Peeperkorn said. Located within an evacuation zone announced last week, the hospital is "currently the sole provider of ICU and neurosurgery services in Khan Younis" and its dialysis unit "is currently serving more than 200 patients," he said.
In Gaza City, Al-Shifa Hospital is operating at a "200% bed occupancy rate," he said, while Al-Amal Hospital in Khan Younis "is currently completely inaccessible due to ongoing military operations in the vicinity and is unable to admit new cases, hence non-functional."
Fuel and medical supply shortages are severely impacting care. "More than 50% of WHO's medical stocks in Gaza are depleted," and "33 WHO trucks await at Al Arish and 15 in the West Bank," he said. "Seventeen hospitals, seven field hospitals, and 43 primary health centers -- barely running on minimum daily fuel -- will soon have none left."
Medical evacuations have nearly halted. "Since March 18, 2025, only 6 medical evacuations have taken place," while "over 10,000 people need medical evacuation outside Gaza."
"Without fuel," Peeperkorn warned: "All levels of care will cease, leading to more preventable deaths and suffering."
Rejecting international calls for a ceasefire, the Israeli army has pursued a brutal offensive against Gaza since October 2023, killing over 55,400 Palestinians, most of them women and children.
