WHO Says None of Gaza’s Hospitals Is Fully Functional as Critical Medical Supplies Wait Weeks for Israeli Clearance

GENEVA (WDN) — Gaza’s humanitarian crisis is deepening as critical medical supplies face prolonged delays before entering the territory, with the World Health Organization warning that patients are paying the price for a system it describes as slow, unpredictable and increasingly difficult to navigate.

Reinhilde Van de Weerdt, the WHO’s representative in the Palestinian territories, said Gaza’s health system remains “utterly dire”, with none of its hospitals currently fully functional.

“Not enough humanitarian aid is entering Gaza, and definitely not enough to allow for a meaningful expansion and restoration of health services,” she told reporters in Geneva from Jerusalem.

At the heart of the problem, according to the WHO, is Israel’s approval system for humanitarian and medical shipments.

The WHO says large quantities of medical supplies are waiting for clearance for a median of 74 days. When shipments are rejected, the approval process must begin again, creating further delays for hospitals already struggling to provide basic care.

Essential Equipment Rejected

The delays are affecting equipment that hospitals depend on to diagnose and treat patients. Van de Weerdt said X-ray machines, sterilization equipment, CT-scan spare parts and other essential medical supplies are regularly rejected.

In one case, a shipment containing prosthetics and assistive devices was rejected four times within six months, she said. Medicines have generally faced fewer obstacles, with almost 87 percent of shipments approved and about 1 percent rejected, according to the WHO.

But the organization says medicines alone cannot restore a health system whose hospitals, diagnostic equipment and other essential infrastructure have been devastated.

“It’s not one single blockage. It’s a system, layered with delay after delay,” Van de Weerdt said. Behind every delay, she added, is a patient waiting for treatment.

WHO: Count of Trucks Does Not Tell the Full Story

The WHO is calling for the predictable and unimpeded entry of humanitarian and medical supplies into Gaza at scale.

It also wants additional crossings opened and clear, publicly available rules governing humanitarian shipments. Van de Weerdt warned that the number of trucks entering Gaza should not be used as the sole measure of humanitarian access.

“A truck full of non-priority supplies, or the right supplies arriving too late, doesn’t save lives,” she said.

Israel maintains that its screening procedures are necessary to prevent materials with potential military applications from reaching Hamas, which it accuses of using civilian infrastructure and supplies to support its operations.

A Health System on the Edge

The consequences are being felt across Gaza’s already devastated health system. Hospitals are operating under extraordinary pressure while medical equipment, spare parts and other supplies remain difficult to obtain. For patients requiring specialized treatment, a delayed shipment can mean a delayed diagnosis, interrupted treatment or the absence of essential medical equipment altogether.

The war began with Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, which killed 1,221 people, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.

Israel’s subsequent military campaign has devastated large parts of Gaza and killed more than 74,000 people, according to Gaza’s health ministry, which operates under Hamas authorities. The United Nations has generally regarded the ministry’s casualty figures as credible, although they do not distinguish between combatants and civilians.

For the WHO, however, the immediate issue is not simply the number of people killed. t is whether those who remain alive can obtain the medical care they need. “On the other side of every one of these delays is a patient who is waiting,” Van de Weerdt said.

And in Gaza, where an entire health system is struggling to function, the cost of waiting can be measured in lives.

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