The UN health agency on Tuesday said Israel should let it stock medical supplies to deal with a âcatastrophicâ health situation in Gaza before it seizes control of Gaza City.
Israel has said its military would âtake controlâ of Gaza City in a plan approved by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahuâs security cabinet that sparked a wave of global criticism.
âWe want to stock up, and we all hear about âmore humanitarian supplies are allowed inâ, well, itâs not happening yet, or itâs happening at a way too low a pace,â said Rik Peeperkorn, the World Health Organisationâs representative in the Palestinian territories.
Fifty-two per cent of medicines were running at zero stock, Peeperkorn said, speaking from Jerusalem.
UN agencies warned last month that famine was unfolding in Gaza, with Israel severely restricting aid entry.
Peeperkorn said the WHO was able to bring in fewer supplies than it wanted âdue to the cumbersome proceduresâ and products âstill deniedâ entry â a topic of constant negotiation with the Israeli authorities.
âWe want to quickly stock up hospitals⊠following the news â the whole discussion about an incursion in Gaza,â he said.
âWe currently cannot do that⊠We need to be able to get all essential medicines and medical supplies in.â
Peeperkorn said only 50 per cent of hospitals and 38 per cent of primary health care centres were functioning, and that too partially.
Bed occupancy has reached 240 per cent capacity in the Al-Shifa hospital and 300 per cent Al-Ahli Hospital in northern Gaza.
âThe overall health situation remains catastrophic,â he said. âHunger and malnutrition continue to ravage Gazaâ.
Peeperkorn said 148 people died from the effects of malnutrition this year, citing August 5 as the cut-off date.
Nearly 12,000 children aged under five were identified to be suffering from acute malnutrition in July, the highest monthly figure recorded to date in Gaza, Peeperkorn said.
These include 2,562 children suffering from severe acute malnutrition, of whom 40 were hospitalised at stabilisation centres.
