The UN estimates that 1.9 million of Gaza's 2.4 million residents have been displaced by the war (File)
Geneva:
The World Health Organization said on Tuesday that a patient had died in an emergency convoy on its way to a hospital in Gaza City, during repeated and prolonged Israeli checks.
WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said over the weekend that the UN health agency and its partners managed to deliver essential trauma and surgical supplies to Al-Ahli Hospital and transfer 19 critical patients.
But on Tuesday he provided more details about the risky mission, saying on
“As a result of the robbery, one patient died en route, given the serious nature of their wounds and the delay in obtaining treatment,” he said.
Tedros did not say in his message who carried out the checks, but a WHO spokesman told AFP they took place at an Israeli army checkpoint.
His comments came as Israel continued its bombardment of Gaza after saying its campaign to destroy Hamas has brought the Palestinian group to “the brink of dissolution.”
The war began with Hamas attacks on October 7 that killed 1,200 people, according to Israeli figures, while about 240 hostages were taken back to Gaza.
Israel has responded with an offensive that has left much of Gaza in ruins and killed at least 18,200 people, mostly women and children, according to the Hamas-led Health Ministry.
The UN estimates that 1.9 million of the area's 2.4 million people have been displaced by the war, half of whom are children.
Humanitarian leaders fear the besieged area will soon be overwhelmed by disease and hunger.
Saturday's WHO-led mission brought much-needed aid to Al-Ahli Hospital, which was “substantially damaged” and in acute need of oxygen and essential medical supplies plus water, food and fuel, as well as additional health staff.
Tedros had described it as a “very high-risk mission in the vicinity of active shelling and artillery fire.”
On Tuesday, he said the convoy was stopped twice at the Wadi Gaza checkpoint on the way to northern Gaza and on the way back, adding that some of the Palestinian Red Crescent staff were detained both times and interrogated for hours.
“As the mission entered Gaza City, the emergency truck carrying medical supplies and an ambulance were hit by bullets,” he said.
Tedros emphasized that “the people of Gaza have the right to access health care.”
“The health care system must be protected, even in war.”
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