The World Health Organization said on Tuesday that a patient died in an emergency convoy en route to a hospital in Gaza City, as a result of repeated and protracted Israeli checks.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus announced over the weekend that the UN health agency and its partners had delivered vital trauma and surgical supplies to the Al-Ahli hospital and transferred 19 critical patients.
On Tuesday, he revealed more information about the high-risk mission, writing on X, previously Twitter, that the WHO was “deeply concerned about prolonged checks and detention of health workers, which endangers the lives of already fragile patients.”
“Due to the hold-up, one patient died en route, given the grave nature of their wounds and the delay in accessing treatment,” he said.
Tedros did not specify who performed the inspections in his tweet, but a WHO spokesperson told AFP they took place at an Israeli army checkpoint.
His remarks came as Israel continued its bombardment of Gaza, claiming that its drive to eliminate Hamas had placed the Palestinian terrorist group on the edge of collapse.
According to Israeli sources, the battle began on October 7 with Hamas attacks that killed 1,200 people, with approximately 240 hostages transported back to Gaza.
According to the Hamas-run health ministry, Israel has replied with an offensive that has reduced much of Gaza to rubble and killed at least 18,200 Palestinians, the majority of whom are women and children.
The UN estimates that the fighting has displaced 1.9 million of the territory’s 2.4 million people, half of whom are children.
Humanitarian leaders are concerned that sickness and malnutrition would soon overwhelm the beleaguered enclave.
The WHO-led expedition on Saturday delivered much-needed assistance to Al-Ahli hospital, which had been “substantially damaged” and was in critical need of oxygen and essential medical supplies, as well as water, food, and fuel, as well as more health workers.
Tedros described it as a “very high-risk mission near active shelling and artillery fire.”
On Tuesday, he said the convoy was halted twice, once on the route to northern Gaza and once on the way back, and that several Palestinian Red Crescent staff were imprisoned and questioned for several hours both times.
“As the mission entered Gaza City, the aid truck carrying the medical supplies and an ambulance were hit by bullets,” he said.
Tedros stressed that “the people of Gaza have the right to access health care”.
“The health system must be protected. Even in war.”