Gaza: Lifesaving medicines blocked as killings continue, disease increases

Just returned from a visit to the ruined enclave, Dr. Renee Van de WeerdtWorld Health Organization (WHO) representative in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, told journalists in Geneva, “Nothing prepares you for Gaza.”

“I thought going a second time would make things easier. But it didn’t,” he said.

Van de Weerdt underlined that since the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in October 2025, at least 880 people were killed in the Gaza Strip and more than 2,600 people were injured.

“Fires may be decreasing, but violence continues,” he said. “We heard there was a bomb nearby shot every day.”

Half of hospitals ‘partially functional’

The WHO representative painted a grim picture of the health situation in the region, noting that some 22 attacks on health have been reported in Gaza this year and almost half of the hospitals are “partially functional”, while not a single hospital can be considered fully operational.

“One of the main reasons why these facilities are not functioning is because they are struggling with a shortage of medical supplies,” he explained.

Critical supplies and equipment are being held back on the other side of the Gaza Strip border, says Dr. Van de Weerdt, which has a negative impact on public health.

“In Jordan, there are prefabricated hospitals that wait months to come into Gaza,” he said. “Lab equipment, reagents, oxygen concentrators, orthopedic items, they are not luxury items. These are essential items…necessary for health facilities and health systems to function.”

Without laboratory equipment and reagents, “we cannot diagnose diseases and detect potential disease outbreaks,” stressed the WHO representative.

Blind to the plague

“We’re talking about hantavirus, which is what we’re talking about Ebola virus. This is not a luxury. These are the tools we need to save lives, to detect disease, to warn the world about potential outbreaks and to ensure that people don’t die..”

“You can only imagine with the terrible living conditions, the overcrowding, the abundance of rodents, the lack of water and sanitation, that this is very, very necessary,” he stressed.

Dr Van de Weerdt explains that some items are prohibited under Israeli regulations as “dual use” items.considered to have potential military use. He rejected the application of such qualifications to the internationally recognized list of essential medicines.

Prosthetic legs are considered suspicious

Prosthetic limbs, for example, are considered dual-use. Some 5,000 amputees in Gaza are waiting not only for prosthetics but also for corrective surgery to ensure that the limb can be properly attached.

“This operation cannot currently be carried out in Gaza,” he said. “So, these poor people must be on a waiting list to go.”

WHO has supported health authorities in organizing the medical evacuation of thousands of patients to more than 30 countries.

Since its reopening in February, the Rafah crossing has become the main gateway for patients leaving the Gaza Strip for Egypt, said Dr. Van de Weerdt, meanwhile, from the Kerem Shalom crossing, which can be used up to once a week, patients can take “a very long and complicated route to Jordan.”

WHO representatives said there were extreme difficulties regarding medical evacuation for patients and their families.

“Often only one or two family members can go and conditions for returning are not always in placehe said. “We continue to recommend medical evacuation for very special cases. But we also want to ensure that the thousands of people who need special care in Gaza right now… can be treated in Gaza.”

The main provider of health services in Gaza is the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWAalthough the Israeli parliament’s ban on its activities has complicated its operations.

UNRWA Health Director Dr Akihiro Seita told journalists in Geneva that last year, the agency provided 4.5 million medical consultations in the region, or about 40 percent of the total volume of medical consultations.

UNRWA cannot be replaced

Dr Van de Weerdt from WHO confirmed that “Nothing can replace what UNRWA does.”

Dr Seita lamented the fact that “because of a Knesset bill opposing UNRWA” the agency was unable to bring medicines to Gaza and the West Bank and lost two health centers in East Jerusalem earlier this year, which used to serve 11,000 patients annually.

UNRWA officials underscored the fact that nearly 400 of the agency’s staff died in the Gaza war. Thousands of people continue to help desperate Gazans facing dire conditions on the ground.

“Many of our staff are still living in tents,” he said. “One of the staff told me, and I[‘ll] never forget…’I feel like I have become an orphan in the world. No one is looking after us. They forget us.’”