WHO’s Head Tedros Concerned About attacks on Gaza's Rafah

The World Health Organization’s Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Monday expressed concerns at the Israeli attacks on Rafah, where hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians have sought refuge. The head of the global health agency called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza as the Israeli airstrikes overnight killed 48 people in Rafah, local health authorities said, according to reports.

Situation in the besieged enclave is critical as only15 out of 36 hospitals were “still partially or minimally functioning,” Tedros said, speaking at the World Government Summit in Dubai. He added that the aid workers were doing their best in what he described as the “impossible circumstances.”  

"I am especially concerned by the recent attacks on Rafah where the majority of Gaza's population has fled the destruction," he reportedly said. "So far, we have delivered 447 metric tonnes of medical supplies to Gaza, but it's a drop in the ocean of need, which continues to grow every day," the WHO chief added.

WHO calls for safe access for humanitarian personnel 

The chief of WHO called for ensuring a safe access for humanitarian personnel and supplies in the war zones. Tedros also called on Hamas to release hostages as he used for cessation of hostilities.

As many as 28,000 people have died since Israel started its onslaught in the strip, as per the estimates of the health authorities. More than 85 per cent of Gazans have been displaced, according to UN, while one in five children under five are now acutely malnourished.

After holding talks with the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, US President Joe Biden said that Israel shouldn’t press for a military operation in the densely populated Rafah without a “credible” plan.

Biden vouched for the protection of the civilians in the border town of Gaza amid warnings from Egypt that such a move on part of IDF would lead to suspension of the Camp David Accords, a cornerstone of regional stability for nearly a half-century between Israel and Egypt.

Netanyahu, in a televised interview, stated on Sunday that his troops will launch a military operation into Rafah as it is necessary to win the four-month war against Hamas. Israel’s Prime Minister argued that Hamas still has four battalions there and that it is the stronghold that not dismantling it would imply Israel losing the war. Half of Gaza's 2.3 million population fled to Rafah to escape fighting in other regions in the north.