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WHO calls for allowing medical aid trucks into Gaza

2025-05-27 08:43:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

A senior World Health Organization official condemned on Monday the fact that none of the agency's trucks carrying medical aid have been allowed to enter the Gaza Strip since the end of the Israeli blockade.

Humanitarian aid has begun to penetrate Palestinian territory again in recent days, after more than two months of blocked access.

But for more than 11 weeks, "there has been no WHO truck that has entered Gaza to support medical care," said WHO's regional director for the Eastern Mediterranean, Hanan Balkhy, during a press conference in Geneva.

"The situation is devastating. We are not only concerned about the work we are supporting, and we want and hope to continue to support the people, but we are extremely concerned about the consequences of this," she said, citing the impact on generations to come.

Israel has intensified a new offensive to destroy the militant group Hamas - designated a terrorist organization by the US and EU - prompting international condemnation for the blockade that began in March and has caused severe food and medical shortages.

“Around 400 trucks have been given the green light to enter Gaza... but supplies from only 115 trucks have managed to cross – and nothing has reached the besieged north,” Balkhy said, adding that none of them were from the WHO.

She said 51 trucks with medical equipment were waiting to cross the border.

Ahmed Zouiten, the WHO's regional emergencies director, said he hoped it was only a matter of time before trucks from the UN health agency could enter the territory.

But, he said it was "too early for us to know" whether they would pass soon or if there were "issues we need to follow up on."

Israel's new offensive has sparked international criticism, with European and Arab leaders meeting in Spain to demand an end to the "inhumane" and "senseless" war, while humanitarian groups say the small amount of aid is far from enough.

Hamas's October 2023 attack on Israel, which sparked the war, resulted in the deaths of 1,218 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.

The militants also took 251 hostages, of whom 57 remain in Gaza, including 34 who the Israeli military says are dead.

On Monday, the Health Ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said at least 3,822 people have been killed in the territory since the collapse of the ceasefire on March 18, bringing the total number of war casualties to 53,977, mostly civilians./ REL