The Head Of WHO Concerned About The Attack On Israeli Soldiers To The Hospital In Khan Younis Gaza Selatan

WHO Head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. (Wikimedia Commons/MONUSCO Photos)

JAKARTA - The head of the World Health Organization (WHO) revealed that he was deeply concerned about reports of fighting around hospitals in Khan Younis City, as Israel stepped up its attacks on the region.

Concerned about the situation surrounding the hospital in Khan Younis, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on social media that this condition must be ended.

"We are deeply concerned by reports of ongoing fighting around Al-Amal Hospital, and today's raids at Al-Kheir Hospital in Gaza are very worrying," he wrote on social media X, as quoted January 23.

"This not only endangers patients and people seeking safety in these facilities, but also prevents people who have just suffered injuries outside the hospital from being reached and receiving treatment," he continued.

"This has to end," Tedros said.

As previously reported, Israeli forces for the first time moved to the Al-Mawasi District near the Mediterranean Coast, west of Khan Younis, the main city of southern Gaza. There, they stormed Al-Khair hospitals and arrested medical staff, Gaza Health Ministry spokesman Ashraf al Qidra told Reuters.

Qidra said at least 50 people died overnight in Khan Younis, while the siege of medical facilities left dozens of people dead and injured beyond the reach of the rescue team.

"Israeli occupation prevented ambulances from operating to retrieve the bodies of the martyrs and injured in the western region of Khan Younis," he said.

Meanwhile, the Palestinian Red Crescent (PRCS) said tanks had surrounded another hospital in Khan Younis, al-Amal, the headquarters of the rescue agency, who lost contact with staff there.

"We are very worried about what is happening around our hospital," said Tommoso Della Longa, spokesman for the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Communities.

At Nasser Hospital, the only major hospital accessible in Khan Younis and the largest still functioning in Gaza, the video shows the ER ward overwhelmed with injured people being treated on the bloodied floor.

Outside, the men dug graves in the hospital yard because it was not safe to go out to the cemetery. Authorities said 40 people were buried there.

Earlier, Israel said Hamas fighters were operating in and around hospitals, but this was denied by Hamas and medical staff.

Israel launched an attack last week to seize Khan Younis, who is now said to be the headquarters of the Hamas militants responsible for the October 7 attack on southern Israel that killed 1,200 people, according to Israeli tallies.

On the Palestinian side, at least 25,295 Gazans have been killed since October 7, Gaza's health authorities said in a recent report on Monday.

Most of Gaza's 2.3 million population now live in Rafah south of Khan Younis and Deir al-Balah in the north, crammed into public buildings and tents made of plastic sheets tied to wooden frames.