UNRWA Says Only Six Of Its 22 Health Centers In Gaza Are Operating

JAKARTA - The UN Aid and Work Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) said only six of its 22 health centers were operating inside and outside the shelter, due to the ongoing bombings in the Gaza Strip.

UNRWA said in a statement issued on Tuesday that critical medical supplies were very limited and there was an urgent need for the delivery of unrestricted life-saving aid, reported by WAFA May 27.

Israel is known to have closed the Gaza Strip crossing for the entry of food, aid, medical aid and goods since March 2, which has caused a significant deterioration in humanitarian situations.

Yesterday, the World Health Organization (WHO) said the stock of medical equipment in Gaza was running out, while basic medicines were very limited.

"Our stock is almost 64 percent for medical equipment and 43 percent for essential medicines and 42 percent for vaccines have run out," WHO Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean Hanan Balkhy told reporters in Geneva.

Balkhy said the WHO had 51 aid trucks waiting on the Gaza border that had not yet received permission to enter the area, where Israel last week slightly relaxed the total blockade of aid imposed in early March.

"Can you imagine a surgeon (improving) a broken bone without anesthesia? Infusion liquids, needles, bandages, all of which are not available in the required amount," he said.

According to Balkhy, basic medicines such as antibiotics, pain relievers, and drugs for chronic diseases are very limited.

After an 11-week blockade, Israel allowed 100 aid trucks carrying flour, baby food, and medical equipment into the Gaza Strip on May 21, none of them from WHO.

It is known that the latest conflict in Gaza broke out on October 7, after a Palestinian militant group led by Hamas attacked Israel's southern region, leaving 1,200 people dead and 251 others held hostage according to Israeli calculations.

On January 19, the two countries imposed a ceasefire agreement and exchanged hostages, following a deal reached days earlier between Hamas and Israel through Egyptian, Qatar and US intermediaries.

Israel again carried out a total blockade of all aid on March 2, saying it was carried out to pressure the Hamas group to accept the ceasefire's proposal and release all hostages in the Gaza Strip.

Separately, medical sources in Gaza confirmed on Tuesday that the death toll from Palestinian attacks since October 2023 had risen to 54,056, while injuries reached 123,129, the majority of victims being women and children.

According to the same source, the death toll since Israel restarted genocide on March 18 after a two-month ceasefire had also risen to 3,901, in addition to 11,088 others injured.