File Photo: Damage at Nasser Hospital, southern Gaza’s largest medical facility, after Israeli shelling. Photo courtesy of Doctors Without Borders official website.
“The Israeli military incursion and evacuation orders in northern Gaza are driving new waves of displacement, forcing traumatised families into an ever-shrinking area unfit for human dignity,” Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on X.
“The injured and people with disabilities cannot move to safety, which puts their lives in grave danger,” he added.
The UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
said earlier this month that around 40,500 children had suffered war-related injuries in nearly two years of conflict in Gaza, with more than half left disabled.
“Reports also described people with disabilities being forced to flee in unsafe and undignified conditions, such as crawling through sand or mud without mobility assistance,” the committee said.
Tedros also warned that hospitals, already overwhelmed, face imminent collapse as fighting prevents the WHO from delivering lifesaving supplies.
On Wednesday, Israeli strikes hit Al-Rantisi Hospital in Gaza City while 80 patients were inside, according to the WHO.
The attack damaged rooftop water tanks, electrical and communication systems, and medical equipment, though no casualties were reported.
The strikes triggered panic among patients and staff, with 40 fleeing the facility. The remaining 40, including four children in intensive care and eight newborns, stayed inside.
Al-Rantisi is the last specialised paediatric hospital in Gaza, providing oncology, dialysis, respiratory care, and treatment for gastroenterological diseases in children.
“We call for an immediate end to these inhumane conditions. Hospitals, health workers and patients need urgent protection, and health must never be a target,” Tedros said, renewing his call for a ceasefire.
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