Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus welcomed the end of hostilities but said “the crisis is far from over and the needs are enormous.”
He highlighted the toll of the months of conflict: more than 170,000 people were injured – including 5,000 amputees and 3,600 people with severe burns. At least 42,000 require long-term rehabilitation, and 4,000 women give birth each month “under unsafe conditions.”
Psychological wounds
“The devastation has been physical but also psychological,” he said. “An estimated one million people need access to mental health care.”
Tedros described a system on the brink of collapse. “There are no fully functioning hospitals in Gaza, and only 14 out of 36 are functioning at all” he said, citing “critical shortages of essential medicines, equipment and health workers.”
Since the ceasefire took effect two weeks ago, WHO teams have scaled up support, sent medical supplies to hospitals, deployed emergency medical teams and facilitated evacuations.
“Yesterday we supported the evacuation of 41 patients and 145 companions to several countries” Tedros said, thanking over 20 nations that have received evacuees.
700 dead awaiting evacuation
But with 15,000 patients still in need of treatment outside Gaza – including 4,000 children – he stressed that “more than 700 have died while waiting for evacuation.”
He urged the reopening of the Rafah crossing and the restoration of medical referrals to the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, to enable emergency care and expand aid.
“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 is built up at Al-Arish in Egypt” pending the reopening of Rafah at the southern tip of the enclave.
The The 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 and we will remain there to help the people of Gaza build a healthier, safer and fairer future.”
Help and access
In New York, UN deputy spokesman Farhan Haq said the UN and partners were stepping up relief efforts. A UN team recently reached Gaza City’s Az Zaitoun neighborhood – inaccessible before the ceasefire – where more than 200 returnee 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, clean water, hygiene items and cash assistance for winter necessities.
Meanwhile, UN agencies continue to provide vital assistance. The World Food Program (WFP) is distributing fortified snacks to school children, while more than 140 trucks of food, hygiene kits and emergency lighting supplies entered Gaza earlier this week.
The children’s agency UNICEF has delivered 20 trucks of baby diapers, and the crisis operations hub UNOPS 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 for survival.”
