WHO Delivers First Medical Aid to Gaza Since March Blockade

WHO Delivers First Medical Aid to Gaza Since March Blockade
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The World Health Organization (WHO) announced on Thursday that it had delivered its first medical shipment to Gaza since Israel imposed a total blockade on March 2, Arab News reported. The shipment, consisting of nine truckloads of essential medical supplies, 2,000 units of blood, and 1,500 units of plasma, arrived via the Kerem Shalom crossing and will be distributed among hospitals in the Palestinian territory in the coming days.

WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus described the delivery as “a drop in the ocean” compared to Gaza’s urgent needs. He noted that the supplies were delivered “without any looting incident, despite the high-risk conditions along the route.” The blood and plasma were stored at Nasser Medical Complex for onward distribution to hospitals facing critical shortages amid a growing number of injuries, many linked to incidents at food distribution sites.

Last week, WHO reported that only 17 of Gaza’s 36 hospitals were partially functional, with the rest unable to operate. Tedros said four more WHO trucks remained at Kerem Shalom, with additional shipments en route.

He called for “the immediate, unimpeded and sustained delivery of health aid into Gaza through all possible routes,” emphasizing that “aid at scale is essential to save lives.”

Israel began allowing limited food supplies into Gaza at the end of May after over two months of blockade, but distribution has been chaotic, with reports of Israeli forces firing on people waiting for rations.