WHO chief calls for ending Gaza’s Al-Shifa hospital siege

Amman: Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, demanded that Israeli occupation forces immediately lift their siege of the Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza city. "WHO and partners have lost contact with health personnel at Al-Shifa hospital in northern Gaza since the ongoing raid began, and we are seeking information on the patients' condition and if they are receiving needed care," Ghebreyesus said in a post on his official X account. "Accessing Al-Shifa is now impossible, and there are reports of health workers being arrested and detained," the WHO chief added. "Report from a doctor in Al-Shifa hospital in northern #Gaza via a UN colleague: - 50 health workers (most of them junior or volunteers) and 143 patients all kept in one building since the second day of the raid, with extremely limited food, water and only one nonfunctional toilet," Ghebreyesus noted. "Patients are in critical condition, many lying on the floor. Three patients in need of intensive care. Two p atients on life support died due to a lack of electricity. Patients have no companions or care takers; no basic medical supplies, no dressing, no medicines available; ?health workers have requested urgent patient referrals," he explained. "These conditions are utterly inhumane. We call for an immediate end to the siege and appeal for safe access to ensure patients get the care they need. Ceasefire!," Ghebreyesus concluded. Source: Jordan News Agency