Can Only Be Concerned About Unhumane Conditions In Gaza, WHO: Can Trigger Disease Outbreaks

Director General of the World Health Organization (WHO) Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. (ANTARA/Xinhua/aa.)

JAKARTA - Israel's attack on Saturday morning, February 3, in the eastern part of Rafah has killed 24 people. Rafah should be one of the safe zones designated by the Israeli military.

Aljazeera reported on Saturday, February 3, there are now more than one million Palestinian refugees who are starving, cold, and sick in Rafah City with children roaming the streets looking for food left over.

Meanwhile, reported by ANTARA, Saturday, February 3, Director General of the World Health Organization (WHO) Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus stated that the condition of European Hospitals in southern Gaza which he considered less humane for patients could increase the risk of outbreaks of disease.

Through social media X, Ghebreyesus revealed that at least 22.000 people were accommodated at the hospital following fighting in Khan Younis in the southern part of Gaza.

Meanwhile, according to Ghebreyesus, the hospital has a capacity of only 670 beds but is now forced to treat 800 patients, even though a number of services such as emergency units, intensive care, surgery and wound care, mothers and children, as well as laboratories and radiology function on a limited basis.

Access to the hospital was also cut off due to the onslaught of Israeli soldiers in the region.

"The WHO team and partners yesterday witnessed extreme overcrowding within the facility - a very inhumane condition for patients, health workers and those who do not have a safe haven to take cover," Ghebreyesus wrote in X on Friday.

Ghebreyesus said limited access to clean water supplies and sanitation could increase the risk of disease outbreaks.

During his visit, the WHO entourage handed over medical supplies for 9,000 patients at European Hospitals.

"We continue to push for a ceasefire. Right now," said Ghebreyesus.

According to Palestinian health authorities, at least 27,000 Palestinians were killed, mostly women and children, and another 66,000 injured in Israel's deadly military offensive in the Gaza Strip in retaliation for cross-border attacks by Hamas on October 7, 2023, which the country says killed 1,200 of its citizens.