WHO Condemns Attack on Gaza Health Facility by Unidentified Perpetrators

The WHO's main warehouse in the city was damaged after an attack caused explosions and fire inside, the organisation said. The warehouse was later looted by desperate crowds, it added.

The agency did not attribute blame for the attack, but said it was part of a pattern of systematic destruction of health facilities. The WHO warned that its operational presence in Gaza was now compromised, crippling efforts to sustain a collapsing health system and pushing survival further out of reach for more than two million people.

There has been no comment yet from the Israeli military on the attacks on the WHO's premises or on the wider offensive in Deir al-Balah. But Israel's Haaretz newspaper reported on Monday that troops were operating to establish a corridor that will cut through the city, severing it from the al-Mawasi area and preventing free movement between central Gaza refugee camps where the Israeli army has no ground presence.

According to the UN, about 87.8% of Gaza is now covered by Israeli evacuation orders or is within Israeli militarized zones, leaving the 2.1 million population squeezed into about 46 sq km of land where essential services have collapsed. Israeli sources say that the possible presence of Israeli hostages held by Hamas is one reason why Deir al-Balah has so far not been the target of a ground offensive. At least 20 of the 50 hostages still in captivity are believed to be alive. Hostages' families have expressed concern that an offensive could endanger them.

The Israeli military launched a campaign in Gaza in response to the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage. At least 59,029 people have been killed in Gaza since then, according to the territory's health ministry.

According to the source: BBC.