WHO calls for safe passage of fuel and supplies to Gaza hospitals

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza to enable the safe distribution of fuel and basic medical supplies to the hospitals in the region.

Several hospitals in Gaza will be forced to stop vital services as they are running low on fuel, electricity and medical supplies.

According to the body, the Al-Shifa Hospital has neared 150 per cent occupancy, while Al-Turki, the only oncology hospital in the Gaza Strip, is no longer operational due to a lack of fuel, putting nearly 2,000 cancer patients at risk.

The 34,000 liters of fuel delivered by UNRWA on October 23 has helped four main hospitals in southern Gaza and the ambulance network provided by the Palestine Red Crescent Society, but this quantity is only sufficient to last another 24 hours or more.

Unless critical supplies of fuel and health aid are quickly delivered to Gaza, thousands of patients will die, the WHO stressed.