WHO Official Pleas for Gaza's Southern Hospitals to Be Spared

Palestinians run for cover next to covered bodies after an Israeli airstrike near the Kamal Adwan hospital in Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip on November 22, 2023. (Photo by Mohammad AHMAD / AFP)
Palestinians run for cover next to covered bodies after an Israeli airstrike near the Kamal Adwan hospital in Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip on November 22, 2023. (Photo by Mohammad AHMAD / AFP)
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WHO Official Pleas for Gaza's Southern Hospitals to Be Spared

Palestinians run for cover next to covered bodies after an Israeli airstrike near the Kamal Adwan hospital in Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip on November 22, 2023. (Photo by Mohammad AHMAD / AFP)
Palestinians run for cover next to covered bodies after an Israeli airstrike near the Kamal Adwan hospital in Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip on November 22, 2023. (Photo by Mohammad AHMAD / AFP)

A World Health Organization official said on Tuesday that only 11, or less than a third, of Gaza's hospitals remain partially functional and pleaded for them to remain intact, Reuters said.
"In just 66 days the health system has gone from 36 functional hospitals to 11 partially functional hospitals - one in the north and 10 in the south," Richard Peeperkorn, WHO representative for the Occupied Palestinian Territory, told a UN press briefing by videolink from Gaza.
"We cannot afford to lose any health care facilities or hospitals," he said. "We hope, we plea that this will not happen."



Egypt Prepares to Open the Rafah Crossing with Gaza

FILED - 15 November 2023, Egypt, Rafah: Aid trucks queue to enter Palestinian territories from Rafah Border Crossing. Photo: Gehad Hamdy/dpa
FILED - 15 November 2023, Egypt, Rafah: Aid trucks queue to enter Palestinian territories from Rafah Border Crossing. Photo: Gehad Hamdy/dpa
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Egypt Prepares to Open the Rafah Crossing with Gaza

FILED - 15 November 2023, Egypt, Rafah: Aid trucks queue to enter Palestinian territories from Rafah Border Crossing. Photo: Gehad Hamdy/dpa
FILED - 15 November 2023, Egypt, Rafah: Aid trucks queue to enter Palestinian territories from Rafah Border Crossing. Photo: Gehad Hamdy/dpa

The Egyptian foreign minister says the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt will start operating “soon” as officials prepare for a surge of humanitarian aid into Gaza as part of the ceasefire set to take effect on Sunday.

Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty did not specify when exactly the crossing will open. The crossing, Gaza’s main gateway to the outside world, has been closed since the Israeli army took over the area last May.

Abdelatty said 600 trucks of aid should be entering Gaza daily during the ceasefire, including 50 fuel trucks.