WHO Provides Evacuation Service of Three Hospitals in Gaza

Gaza – The WHO (World Health Organization) criticized Israel Defense Forces soldiers, saying that the humanitarian work done by Israel in the Gaza Strip is substandard. The criticism comes despite Israel facilitating the entry and exit of aid workers to Al Shifa Hospital to transport premature babies.

"We are grateful for the cooperation and deconfliction we have had on these specific issues with Al Shifa, but this is not sustainable," said Michael Ryan, Acting Director of WHO's Health Emergencies Program.

"It's very difficult to put in place proper notification and deconfliction systems and we have been operating for weeks without them, and without the cooperation needed to run humanitarian operations in conflict zones," he continued. 

Ryan also specifically mentioned COGAT, the Coordination of Government Activities in the Region. 

As information, COGAT is the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories, which is a unit in the Israeli Ministry of Defense involved in coordinating civilian issues between the Government of Israel, the Israel Defense Forces, international organizations, diplomats, and the Palestinian Authority.

"The engagement between us and COGAT, is still substandard, and not efficient," he said.

"A lot of our staff are operating in situations where there is no conflict resolution in their missions, delivery of supplies, and other things, without knowing what's going to happen next," he continued. 

Ryan also mentioned: "So that has to improve and we are grateful that it has improved for the Al Shifa mission and we hope that this becomes the new standard in cooperation,"

Evacuation of three hospitals in Gaza war zone

WHO also responded that it would facilitate the evacuation of three hospitals located in the Gaza war zone. This is based on requests from doctors and patients, as the war between Israel and Hamas escalates.

WHO said it would facilitate the evacuation of at least three hospitals targeted by the conflict in Northern Gaza, such as Al Shifa Hospital, Al Alhi Hospital, and Indonesian Hospital. However, this process could take weeks.