WHO to Remain in Gaza City Despite Israeli Evacuation Orders

The World Health Organization (WHO) has confirmed that its staff will remain in Gaza City, despite calls from the Israeli military for civilians to evacuate amid an ongoing assault.

“To civilians in Gaza: WHO and partners remain in Gaza City,” the UN health agency stated via its X social media account on Wednesday.

Israel’s military has intensified its operations in Gaza City, the main urban centre of the besieged Gaza Strip, aiming to seize control of the city. Earlier this week, Israel urged civilians to leave.

The United Nations estimates that approximately one million Palestinians live in and around Gaza City.

“WHO is appalled by the latest evacuation order,” said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the head of the WHO.
“The demand that one million people move to what Israel is calling a ‘humanitarian zone’ in the south of the Gaza Strip is simply unfeasible.”

Tedros emphasised that the so-called humanitarian zone:

• “Has neither the size nor the scale of services to support those already there, let alone new arrivals.”
• Houses half of the functioning hospitals left in the Gaza Strip, which the territory’s crippled health system cannot afford to lose.

He urged the international community to act, stating: “This catastrophe is human-made, and the responsibility rests with us all.”

Israel has been conducting offensive operations in Gaza since October 2023, following a deadly Hamas attack that killed 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to AFP calculations based on Israeli data.

Since then:

• More than 64,000 Palestinians have been killed, predominantly civilians, according to figures from the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry, which the UN considers reliable.
• The UN has declared famine in parts of Gaza, a claim contested by Israel.

The WHO’s decision to remain underscores the critical role of health services in the city, even as the humanitarian and military situation continues to deteriorate.

Tedros concluded: “Losing any of the remaining health facilities in Gaza would be catastrophic for the civilian population.”