The World Health Organisation has called for an immediate ceasefire in the ongoing conflict between Israel and Gaza as the death toll continues to rise.
In a statement on X, WHO Director-General Tedros Ghebreyesus said they are deeply concerned, especially over continuous fighting in the vicinity of hospitals.
“Not only do they put patients and people seeking safety within these facilities at risk, but they also prevent newly injured people outside the hospitals from being reached and receiving care. This must end. Ceasefire now,” he said.
The Hamas-run health ministry said on Monday more than 25,000 people have now been killed in Gaza since Israel's offensive began on October 7, 2023.
It said Monday was one of the deadliest days in the war so far after 178 deaths were reported over 24 hours.
Ghebreyesus also condemned Monday’s storming of two health facilities in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, terming it “deeply worrisome”.
During the bloodiest fighting as yet, Israeli forces laid siege to Al-Kheir Hospital and al-Amal Hospital in Khan Younis where a Gaza health ministry spokesman said they arrested medical staff.
A doctor at Nasser Medical Complex within the vicinity posted a video on social media describing the situation as “completely catastrophic” as panic spread among staff, patients and displaced people seeking shelter inside the building.
“There is no way for us to escape the hospital and no way for evacuation. The troops are all around, and the only roads for evacuation are filled with dead bodies,” he said.
Israel has been waging retaliatory attacks on the Gaza Strip after Hamas killed about 1,300 people and took 240 others hostage in their October 7 surprise attack on Israel.
Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has consistently rejected calls for a ceasefire, including from his military advisors, and repeatedly dismissed the possibility of creating a Palestinian state.
Israel is currently focusing its military assault on southern Gaza where it believes Hamas commanders and remnants of its fighters are hiding mostly in medical facilities.
