Published on: 2026-05-22
Source: United Nations – United Nations –
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A severe humanitarian situation in Gaza, where hostilities continue and infectious diseases are spreading, and internally displaced personssuffer from rodent infestations, exacerbates the blockage of supplies of essential medical goods. This was warned by UN agencies on Friday.
The representative of the World Health Organization (WHO) in the occupied Palestinian territory, Rene van der Veirdt, who recently visited the enclave, told journalists in Geneva: “Nothing can prepare you for Gaza.”
“I thought it would be easier the second time. But it’s not,” she said.
According to Van de Weerdt, since the cessation of fire between Israel and HAMAS in October 2025, at least 880 people have been killed in the sector, and more than 2,600 have been injured.
“Perhaps, there is less fire, butviolence continues, – he noted. – We hear explosions nearby. The shooting continues every day.
Hospitals are working only partially
A WHO representative emphasized that since the beginning of the year, about 22 attacks on medical facilities have been recorded in Gaza. At the same time, only half of the hospitals “partially function,” and none of them can be considered fully operational.
“One of the main reasons lies in the critical shortage of medical supplies,” she explained.
According to Van de Veirdt, equipment and medicines remain blocked on the other side of the sector’s border. Thus, in Jordan, ready elements of a rapidly deployable hospital have been waiting for several months for permission to enter Gaza.
“Laboratory equipment, reagents, oxygen concentrators, orthopedic products are not luxury items. These are essential things without which medical institutions and the entire healthcare system cannot function,” said the UN agency representative.
Risk of disease outbreaks
Without laboratory equipment and reagents, he emphasized, it is impossible to diagnose diseases and identify potential outbreaks of infections.
“We are discussing an antivirus, the Ebola virus. This is not a luxury. This is equipment necessary to save lives, detect diseases, warn the world about a possible outbreak, and prevent the deaths of people,” Van de Weirdt said.
She added that under the conditions of catastrophic living conditions, overpopulation, the spread of rodents, lack of water supplies and absence of sanitation, such deliveries are urgently needed.
Some goods, explained a WHO representative, are prohibited from import due to Israeli restrictions on so-called dual-use items, which, it is believed, can be used for military purposes. At the same time, he emphasized that such restrictions also apply to goods included in the internationally recognized lists of essential medicines.
Prostheses and evacuations
As an example, it has led to prosthetic limbs, which are considered dual-use items. In the enclave, about five thousand people with amputations are awaiting not only prosthetics but also corrective surgeries necessary for the proper fitting of prostheses.
“It is currently impossible to conduct such operations in Gaza,” Van de Beirdt said. “Therefore, people are forced to wait for the opportunity to leave the sector.”
VOZ supports the organization of medical evacuation for thousands of patients in more than 30 countries.
After the opening in February, KPP Rafah once again became a key route for transporting patients to Egypt. Through the Kerem Shalom crossing, which opens approximately once a week, patients are transported to Jordan “along a very long and difficult route.”
The WHO representative emphasized that medical evacuation remains an extremely complex process.
“Often only one or two family members can leave, and the conditions for returning do not always exist,” she said. “We continue to strive for the medical evacuation of patients in need of highly specialized care. But we also aim to ensure that more and more of the tens of thousands of people who today require specialized treatment in Gaza can receive it within the sector itself.”
Role BAPO
One of the key providers of medical services in Gaza remains the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), but the restrictions imposed in Israel have significantly complicated its work.
The director of the BAPO healthcare department, Iro Seyta, reported that last year the agency conducted 4.5 million consultations in Gaza – about 40 percent of the total volume of medical aid in the sector.
Rene van de Veyrdt emphasized: “No one can replace what BAPO does.”
Seita, in turn, noted that due to Israeli laws, the agency cannot deliver medicines to Gaza and the West Bank and has already lost two medical centers in East Jerusalem, which annually served about 11,000 patients.
He also recalled that nearly 400 agency employees were killed during the war in Gaza. Thousands of others continue to work in extremely difficult conditions.
“Many of our employees still live in tents,” Seyt said. “One of them told me words that I will never forget: ‘I feel like an orphan of the world. No one cares about us. We have been forgotten.'”
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