The World Health Organization’s Director-General, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, has called for an end to attacks on Gazan hospitals after Israel struck one and raided another in the last week.
Tedros made this plea in a post on his official X account on Monday, December 30.
“Hospitals in Gaza have once again become battlegrounds and the health system is under severe threat.
“We repeat: stop attacks on hospitals. People in Gaza need access to health care. Humanitarians need access to provide health aid. Ceasefire!” He added.
The Palestinian civil defense claimed that seven people were killed in an attack on Gaza City’s Al Wafa hospital on Sunday, which the Israeli military claimed was directed at Hamas militants.
According to the Israeli military, those detained were suspected terrorists, and the hospital was being used as a command center for Hamas military activities.
Israeli soldiers also arrested about 240 Palestinians on Friday, including scores of medical personnel at Kamal Adwan hospital, including its director, Hussam Abu Safiya, according to Gaza health authorities and Israel’s military.
It added that because Abu Safiya was suspected of being a Hamas operative, he was brought in for interrogation.
Tedros, who was caught up in an Israeli strike against Yemen’s main airport last week, which he said may have cost him his life, demanded Abu Safiya’s immediate release and said the Al-Ahli hospital had also been attacked.
The WHO chief stated that the UN health agency and its allies had sent basic medical supplies, food, and water to Gaza’s Indonesian hospital and transported ten critical patients to Al Shifa Hospital.
“We urge Israel to ensure their health care needs and rights are upheld,” Tedros said.
