Published on: 2026-04-24
Source: United Nations – United Nations –
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The conditions in Gaza, where amidst large-scale destruction there continue to be outbreaks of violence, hinder efforts to restore the lives of the population, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Friday. Meanwhile, mine clearance experts warn that so far they have only “slightly lifted the veil” in assessing the scale of contamination of the enclave’s territory with unexploded ordnance.
Goods shortage in Iran
In Iran, meanwhile, concern is growing over the looming shortage of essential medical supplies. “The announcement of a ceasefire earlier this month was a long-awaited relief. However, the reality on the ground causes concern,” said Cristian Cortes Cardosa, Deputy Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies – a UN partner. He has just returned from Tehran.
Speaking before journalists in Geneva via video link from Beirut, Christian Cortes Cardosa emphasized that “a ceasefire does not mean the end of the conflict.” According to him, the consequences of weeks of “intense combat operations” will be felt by Iranian society “for many more months and years.”
Hundreds of medical institutions in Iran were damaged or destroyed, the speaker explained, and concern is growing about access to medical care, and due to the destruction of production capacities, there may be a shortage of key medical supplies, such as dialysis machines and prostheses.
Due to the war, the plant that supplies 60 percent of the country’s demand for dialysis filters has raw material reserves for only the next three months.
Destruction in Gaza
The situation in Gaza remains extremely unstable: more than 1800 medical facilities are partially or completely destroyed, reports the World Health Organization.
“This concerns both large hospitals, such as ‘Al-Shifa’ in Gaza, and small primary healthcare centers, clinics, pharmacies, and laboratories,” noted the new WHO representative in the occupied Palestinian territory, Reinild van de Veerdt.
Speaking at a press conference in Jerusalem, she spoke about her first trip to Gaza in her new position. “I spent my first week [in the new position] there at the beginning of this month. Nothing can prepare a person for such a scale of destruction. You can read reports, study figures, but standing on the street amidst endless multi-meter piles of rubble is completely different,” noted the WHO representative.
Tents, ruins, and rats
According to her, the majority of Palestinian families still cannot return to their homes. “They live in tents among the ruins, completely dependent on humanitarian aid… And despite the cessation of fire, airstrikes, shelling, and shootings continue,” said Reinild Van de Veerdt.
In addition, among the displaced persons, more than 17,000 cases of infections transmitted by rodents have been recorded, and more than 80 percent of the places of accommodation report each disease, such as scabies, as well as lice and bedbugs – “a sad but predictable consequence of life in the debris,” noted in the WHO.
“For WHO and its partners in the health sector, it is important to better understand which diseases affect the population of Gaza. For this, we need to deliver laboratory equipment and materials to the sector. As you know, they do not arrive there, and this practically makes us blind,” emphasized Van de Veerdt. To cope with health threats to the population, it is necessary to change the situation, she added.
“Medical institutions and healthcare workers of the wounded must be protected, and vital medicines and materials must be delivered to Gaza. Bureaucratic procedures and restrictions on access to these recognized indispensable means worldwide must be lifted,” emphasized the UN representative.
War repressions
These appeals were supported by the head of the UN Mine Action Service in the occupied Palestinian territory, emphasizing that unexploded ordnance poses a huge danger to the population throughout the enclave.
According to Julius Dirk Van der Valt, this deadly threat today threatens the residents of the sector almost everywhere. “We have barely begun to understand the level of pollution we encountered in Gaza,” he noted.
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