‘Systematic destruction of medical facilities’ | WHO condemns Israeli attack on its facilities in Central Gaza

Deir al-Balah under attack, 21 July 2025

Jack Khoury, Rawan Suleiman and Reuters report in Haaretz on 22 July 2025:

The World Health Organization said the Israeli military attacked its staff residence and main warehouse in the central Gaza Strip city of Deir al-Balah on Monday, compromising its operations in the enclave.

The United Nations agency said the WHO staff residence was attacked three times, with airstrikes causing a fire and extensive damage, and endangering staff and their families, including children.

“Israeli military entered the premises, forcing women and children to evacuate on foot toward Al-Mawasi amid active conflict. Male staff and family members were handcuffed, stripped, interrogated on the spot, and screened at gunpoint,” WHO said.

Two WHO staff and two family members were detained, it said in a post on X, adding that three were later released, while one staff member remained in detention.  “WHO demands the immediate release of the detained staff and protection of all its staff,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said.

WHO said its main warehouse, located within an evacuation zone, was damaged on Sunday due to an attack that triggered explosions and a fire inside.  WHO stated it will remain in Deir al-Balah and expand its operations despite the attacks.  On X, the organization said it “condemns in the strongest terms the attacks” and called the destruction of its main warehouse “part of a pattern of systematic destruction of health facilities.”

“With the main warehouse nonfunctional and the majority of medical supplies in Gaza depleted, WHO is severely constrained in adequately supporting hospitals, emergency medical teams and health partners, already critically short on medicines, fuel, and equipment. WHO urgently calls on Member States to help ensure a sustained and regular flow of medical supplies into Gaza,” it said.

It added, “Life in Gaza is being relentlessly squeezed, and the chance to prevent loss of lives and reverse immense damage to the health system slips further out of reach each day. A ceasefire is not just necessary, it is overdue.”

On Monday, IDF tanks entered the southern and eastern districts of Deir al-Balah. The IDF has refrained thus far from a ground invasion of the city for fear that hostages may be held in the area. IDF Arabic-language spokesperson Avichay Adraee ordered residents of the city to evacuate their homes on Sunday – the first evacuation order the IDF has issued for this area since the start of the war.

The UN said on Monday that following the evacuation order, only 12 percent of the Gaza Strip is available for people to reside.  The IDF is operating on the ground to create a corridor that will cross the city, cutting it off from the Muwasi and preventing free passage between the refugee camps in the central Gaza Strip, where ground forces are not operating.

Sources told Haaretz on Monday that the IDF carried out extensive airstrikes throughout Deir al-Balah, and Palestinian reports said three mosques were destroyed in the city. The sources said there are fears the city, which has sustained relatively little destruction compared to other areas in Gaza, could now sustain severe damage.

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