Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus welcomed the cessation of hostilities, but said “the crisis is far from over and the needs are immense.”
He highlighted the toll of months of conflict: more than 170,000 people injured, including 5,000 amputees and 3,600 people with serious burns. At least 42,000 need long-term rehabilitation and 4,000 women give birth each month “in unsafe conditions.”
psychological wounds
“The destruction has been physical but also psychological,” he said. “It is estimated that one million people need access to mental health care.”
Tedros described a system on the verge of collapse. “There are no fully functioning hospitals in Gaza, and only 14 of 36 are functioning.” he said, citing “a critical shortage of medicines, equipment and essential health workers.”
Since the ceasefire came into effect two weeks ago, WHO teams have expanded support, sending medical supplies to hospitals, deploying emergency medical teams and facilitating evacuations.
“Yesterday we supported the evacuation of 41 patients and 145 companions to several countries“Tedros said, thanking more than 20 countries that have received evacuees.
700 dead waiting for evacuation
But as there are still 15,000 patients needing treatment outside Gaza – including 4,000 children – he stressed that “more than 700 have died while awaiting evacuation.”
He urged reopening the Rafah crossing and restoring medical referrals to the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, to allow urgent care and expand aid delivery.
“Although the flow of aid has increased, it is still only a fraction of what is needed,” Tedros said, noting that “a significant amount of aid has been stockpiled in Al-Arish in Egypt” pending the reopening of Rafah on the southern edge of the enclave.
He UN 60-day ceasefire plan seeks $45 million to maintain essential health servicesstrengthen disease prevention and early warning systems, coordinate health partners and support reconstruction.
However, rebuilding Gaza’s health system will cost “at least $7 billion,” he said. “WHO was in Gaza before the war started, we have been there throughout the process and we will remain there to help the people of Gaza build a healthier, safer and more just future.”
Help and access
In New York, U.N. deputy spokesman Farhan Haq said the U.N. and its partners are stepping up relief efforts. A UN team recently arrived in the Az Zaitoun neighborhood of Gaza City – inaccessible before the ceasefire – where more than 200 returning families live in “extremely poor” conditions.
Residents walk up to two kilometers to reach the nearest water point and are in urgent need of food, drinking water, hygiene items and cash assistance for winter essentials.
Meanwhile, UN agencies continue to provide vital aid. The World Food Program (WFP) is distributing fortified snacks to schoolchildren, while more than 140 trucks carrying food, hygiene kits and emergency shelter supplies entered Gaza earlier this week.
The children’s agency UNICEF has delivered 20 trucks of baby diapers and the UNOPS crisis operations center distributed almost 160,000 liters of fuel for humanitarian operations.
“The ceasefire offers a lifeline,” Tedros said, “but Gaza’s health system – and its people – are still fighting to survive.”
