The World Health Organization (WHO) has announced that it has delivered its first medical assistance to Gaza in over three months.
This follows reports of Israeli gunfire and airstrikes that resulted in 56 Palestinian fatalities in Gaza, according to health authorities affiliated with Hamas, as mediators reached out to both Israel and Hamas to negotiate a resumption of ceasefire talks aimed at ending the war.
This shipment of aid is the first medical delivery into Gaza by the UN agency since March 2, as stated by WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Israel implemented a total blockade on Gaza on March 2. More than two months later, it began permitting limited food supplies, but no other aid items until now.
Mr. Tedros reported that nine trucks carrying vital medical supplies, including 2,000 units of blood and 1,500 units of plasma, successfully entered Gaza yesterday.
“The supplies were transported from Kerem Shalom without any incidents of looting, despite the high-risk conditions along the route,” he noted in a post on the social media platform X.
He emphasized that the supplies would be distributed to prioritized hospitals in the upcoming days.
“The blood and plasma were delivered to the cold storage facility at Nasser Medical Complex for further distribution to hospitals facing critical shortages, amid a rising influx of injuries often related to incidents at food distribution sites,” he stated.
Last week, the WHO reported that only 17 of Gaza’s 36 hospitals were minimally to partially operational, with the others unable to function at all.
Mr. Ghebreyesus mentioned that four WHO trucks remain at Kerem Shalom, with additional trucks on their way to Gaza.
He expressed appreciation to the Ministry of Health and the UN for their support.
“However, these medical supplies are merely a drop in the ocean,” he remarked.
“Large-scale aid is crucial to save lives. WHO calls for the immediate, unimpeded, and sustained delivery of health assistance to Gaza through all possible channels.”
Israeli strikes and gunfire in Gaza continue.
Health authorities reported that an Israeli airstrike killed at least nine individuals at a school sheltering displaced families in the Sheikh Radwan suburb of Gaza City, while another strike resulted in nine deaths near a tent encampment in Khan Younis in southern Gaza.
Israeli gunfire also claimed three more lives, and dozens were injured as crowds gathered awaiting UN aid trucks along a major route in central Gaza, as reported by medics, marking yet another instance of multiple fatalities during aid distribution.
No immediate response was provided by the Israeli military regarding these incidents.
Amid these developments, Palestinians scoured through the rubble of heavily damaged buildings in Gaza City.
The fatalities occur as Arab mediators, including Egypt and Qatar, with backing from the United States, engage with the conflicting parties in an effort to initiate new ceasefire discussions, though no specific timeline for a new round has been established, according to sources from Hamas.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who heads a coalition with far-right factions, maintains that Hamas, which has governed Gaza for nearly two decades, must release all hostages, renounce any governing role, and disarm to bring an end to the conflict.
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In response, Hamas stated its willingness to release hostages provided that Israel agrees to a permanent ceasefire and withdraws from Gaza.
Human rights organizations report that Gaza and its population of over two million face conditions akin to famine due to Israeli restrictions on aid, with chaotic scenes and almost daily fatalities complicating aid distribution efforts.
Following a blockade of more than two months on Gaza, aid began to trickle in late May.
A significant portion of the aid is being channeled through the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), bypassing the UN-led distribution framework.
In a joint statement with Defense Minister Israel Katz released late yesterday, Mr. Netanyahu noted, “We received information today indicating that Hamas is once again seizing control of humanitarian aid entering the northern Gaza Strip and stealing it from civilians.”
He declared that he had instructed the military to formulate a plan “to prevent Hamas from appropriating the aid.”
A statement from Gaza’s higher committee for tribal affairs—a committee not affiliated with Hamas that was established during the conflict—denied the allegations of Hamas stealing aid.
“Gaza’s tribal leaders affirmed that all aid is being properly secured under their direct supervision and is being distributed solely through international agencies,” the committee stated.
“The securing of aid has been accomplished purely through tribal efforts,” it added.
Trucks delivering humanitarian aid have arrived in Beit Lahia in northern Gaza.
The committee has called for a United Nations delegation to assess whether aid is being appropriately dispatched in Gaza.
Israel asserts that its goal is to eliminate militants from Hamas, which launched an attack on southern Israel from Gaza in 2023, and to free hostages still held by the group.
While Israel has acknowledged it would no longer govern Gaza, Hamas has refused to entertain discussions on disarmament.
Hamas-led militants killed nearly 1,200 people and took 251 hostages during their assault on Israel on October 7, 2023, according to Israeli figures, which prompted a significant military response from Israel.
Israel’s retaliatory campaign has resulted in the deaths of over 56,000 Palestinians, according to local health authorities, and has devastated much of the coastal territory.
Most of the hostages released to date have been freed through indirect negotiations between Hamas and Israel.
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