A Palestinian family sits around a fire amid the rubble of destroyed buildings in Jabalia, in the northern Gaza Strip, on November 7, 2025.
In statements, the two UN agencies said that the shutdown of border points has left thousands without access to critical medical care and has severely limited the delivery of food, fuel, and other necessities, threatening to push the 2.2-million population of the strip deeper into catastrophe as winter approaches.
According to the WHO, about 16,500 patients in Gaza are currently awaiting medical evacuation to receive life-saving treatment outside the besieged territory. Many are cancer patients, trauma victims, and children with chronic conditions that cannot be treated in Gaza’s decimated health system.
The organization said that medical supplies and essential equipment are already pre-positioned at border crossings, but remain blocked from entering due to Israeli restrictions and their ongoing closure of the Rafah crossing on the Palestinian side.
A young palestinian girl walks past a makeshift house built amid the rubble in Jabalia, in the northern Gaza Strip, on November 7, 2025. AFP
The UN warnings come on the day the health ministry in Gaza stated that the death toll from the Israeli genocidal war on Gaza climbed over 69,000 Palestinians, as Search and Rescue teams, co-organized by Egypt, Palestinians, and the Red Cross, continued to pull out the bodies of Palestinians killed in two years of Israel carpet bombing of the strip from under the rubble.
An Israeli total blockade on the entry of all food, water, and medicine to Gaza from March to October 2025 forced the UN to declare famine in the strip, a first in the Middle East.
The Israelis have continued to violate the terms of a ceasefire with Hamas, brokered by Egypt, Qatar, Turkey, and the US, launching deadly airstrikes that killed nearly 260 people and restricting the entry of urgent aid to the strip.
Egypt, in collaboration with the UN and its international partners, has spearheaded efforts to send humanitarian convoys of aid to Gaza through the Karm Abu salem crossing in the face of Israeli restrictions and delays. In tandem, Cairo has repeatedly expressed the readiness of Egyptian hospitals to receive and treat ill and wounded Palestinians from the strip, as it has since the start of the war.
In its statement, WHO said the Israeli closure of crossings has paralyzed Gaza’s healthcare system, warning that without immediate medical evacuations and delivery of supplies, thousands of preventable deaths are likely to occur in the coming weeks.
The agency called on Israel to reopen Rafah and all other border crossings, stressing that Rafah remains the only viable route for evacuations and for bringing in life-saving aid.
On Thursday, the WHO stated it will launch a major health intervention in Gaza next week to restore basic medical services for children who have gone without routine care for nearly two years due to Israel’s war on the territory.
Meanwhile, OCHA painted a bleak picture of living conditions across Gaza, saying that hundreds of thousands of displaced families are facing the onset of winter without adequate shelter, clothing, or basic protection from cold and rain.
The UN office warned that many makeshift camps across Gaza lack insulation, electricity, and heating, exposing children and the elderly to severe health risks. As temperatures drop, the risk of disease outbreaks, including respiratory infections, will increase dramatically.
OCHA also reported that only 4 percent of Gaza’s agricultural land remains accessible and cultivable, as vast areas have been rendered unusable by Israeli bombardment, bulldozing, or contamination.
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