WHO chief warns no functional hospital exists in north Gaza

The last hospital that can perform surgery in northern Gaza stopped functioning, the World Health Organization's (WHO) director-general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said on Wednesday, reported Xinhua.

The Al-Ahli Arab Hospital's operating theaters are no longer functioning due to the depletion, or complete absence, of specialists, power, fuel, water, food and medical supplies, Tedros wrote on X (formerly Twitter).

"That has left north Gaza with no functional hospital. Only four hospitals operate at a minimum level, providing very limited care," he added.

In a joint mission to Al-Ahli Arab and Al-Shifa hospitals in northern Gaza on Wednesday, the WHO and other United Nations agencies delivered medicines, IV fluids and supplies for surgery, treating the wounded, and supporting women giving birth.

"Only nine out of 36 health facilities are partially functional for the whole of Gaza. All of these in the south," Richard Peeperkorn, WHO representative on the occupied Palestinian territory, told a press conference via video link on Thursday.

The minimally functioning Al-Ahli and three other hospitals are still treating patients but not admitting new ones, Peeperkorn said, adding that these hospitals are still sheltering thousands of displaced people.

About 10 health workers continue to provide basic first aid, pain management and wound care, according to Tedros.

The WHO chief again appealed for a humanitarian ceasefire to stop the bloodshed and death.