The head of the World Health Organization calls for an end to attacks on hospitals in Gaza after the deadly Israeli raid

The Director-General of the World Health Organization on Monday called for an end to attacks on hospitals in Gaza after Israel bombed one and raided another in the past few days.

“Hospitals in Gaza have once again become battlefields and the health system is under severe threat,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a post on X.

“We repeat: stop attacks on hospitals. People in Gaza need access to health care. Humanitarian workers need access to provide health assistance. Ceasefire!”

The Israeli military said Hamas activists were the targets of an attack on Gaza City’s Al-Wafa Hospital on Sunday, which the Palestinian Civil Defense said killed seven people.

Watch | Arrest of medical staff after the Israeli raid on a hospital in northern Gaza:

The World Health Organization says the Israeli raid forced a major hospital in Gaza to close

An Israeli raid led to the closure of a major hospital in Gaza on Friday, the World Health Organization said. Kamal Adwan Hospital was the last functioning hospital in northern Gaza, and WHO spokeswoman Margaret Harris says this “essential” lifeline for local Palestinians has ended.

Today, Friday, the Israeli occupation forces arrested more than 240 Palestinians, including dozens of medical staff at Kamal Adwan Hospital. Among those detained is its director, Hussam Abu Safiya, according to health authorities in the Gaza Strip and the Israeli army.

The Israeli army said the hospital was being used as a command center for Hamas’ military operations and that those detained were suspected activists. She added that Abu Safiya was taken for interrogation on suspicion of being a Hamas activist.

Tedros, who was trapped last week in an Israeli raid on Yemen’s main airport that he said may have cost him his life, called for Abu Safiya’s immediate release and said that Al-Ahli Hospital had also been attacked.

Tedros said that the World Health Organization and its partners delivered essential medical supplies, food and water to the Indonesian hospital in Gaza and transferred 10 patients in critical condition to Al-Shifa Hospital. He added that four patients were detained during the transfer.

“We urge Israel to ensure that their health care needs and rights are respected,” Tedros said.

At least 45,541 Palestinians were killed and 108,338 others were injured in the Israeli military attack on Gaza, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health.

The war was sparked by a Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 were taken hostage into Gaza, according to Israeli statistics.