The World Health Organization (WHO) has highlighted critical delays and shortages of medical supplies entering Gaza, warning of severe consequences for the territory’s health system and population. Speaking from Jerusalem, Reinhilde Van de Weerdt, the WHO representative for the Palestinian territories, described a complex and protracted approval process imposed by Israeli authorities that has led to significant backlogs of essential items.
According to Van de Weerdt, none of Gaza’s hospitals are fully operational due to persistent shortages of key medical equipment and supplies. She explained that standard health kits, vital medical machinery like X-ray and CT scan components, as well as prosthetics and assistive devices, frequently face rejection or prolonged clearance times. One shipment of prosthetics, for example, was reportedly rejected four times over the past six months. Medicines, by contrast, experience fewer hurdles, with about 87 percent of requests approved and just over 1 percent rejected.
The WHO emphasized that aid can only enter Gaza through the Kerem Shalom crossing in the south, which remains a major bottleneck, while Rafah crossing is open only for limited pedestrian movement, including patients seeking medical treatment abroad. Other crossings such as Kissufim, Gate 96, Erez, and Erez West remain closed and under full Israeli control. The WHO called for a multi-crossing model to allow for more predictable and expanded access to humanitarian aid, asserting that focusing solely on the volume of trucks crossing the border does not necessarily reflect whether the population’s urgent health needs are being met.
Israel maintains that its restrictions on entry reflect security concerns, pointing to the dual-use potential of some supplies that could be repurposed for military use by Hamas, the group that carried out a major attack in October 2023. However, the WHO has urged Israeli authorities to reconsider limitations on essential medical items, emphasizing their internationally recognized purpose and necessity for healthcare infrastructure.
The situation in Gaza is compounded by the deteriorating humanitarian conditions, with nearly two million residents facing harsh winter conditions, inadequate shelter, and risks of flooding. The WHO and the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs have warned of heightened public health risks, including outbreaks of preventable diseases linked to insufficient clean water and poor sanitation. The destruction of laboratories and the accumulation of solid waste further undermine efforts to monitor and manage health threats.
Despite ongoing Israeli air strikes and military activity within a fragile ceasefire that has lasted almost a year, health workers in Gaza continue to provide care under extremely challenging circumstances. The WHO stresses the urgent need for unimpeded, predictable, and scaled-up humanitarian access to prevent further deterioration of Gaza’s health system and to protect the well-being of its population.