The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Wednesday Israel has approved less than half of its aid-delivery missions in Gaza.
The WHO’s representative in the Palestinian Territories, Rik Peeperkorn said hospitals were “overwhelmed, overflowing and under supplied.”
He said patients were undergoing unnecessary amputations that could have been avoided in better circumstances and accused Israel of blocking aid to Gaza.
The WHO representative said only 40 percent of the missions the organization had requested to deliver aid to northern Gaza have been facilitated since November and that the figure has been much lower since January.
He said only 45 percent of the missions in southern Gaza were possible.
Mediators are hurrying to try and secure a ceasefire ahead of Israel’s planned offensive in Rafah, where more than 1.4 million Palestinians are stuck.
UN humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths warned on Tuesday that a military operation there “could lead to a slaughter.”
At least 28,576 people, the majority civilians, have been killed in Gaza since October 7, Hamas’s health ministry in the territory said.
