WHO Chief Deplores 'Unconscionable' Strikes On Red Crescent In Gaza

Medics transfer wounded Palestinians from Gaza to Egypt through the Rafah crossing on Sunday. (AFP)
Medics transfer wounded Palestinians from Gaza to Egypt through the Rafah crossing on Sunday. (AFP)
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WHO Chief Deplores 'Unconscionable' Strikes On Red Crescent In Gaza

Medics transfer wounded Palestinians from Gaza to Egypt through the Rafah crossing on Sunday. (AFP)
Medics transfer wounded Palestinians from Gaza to Egypt through the Rafah crossing on Sunday. (AFP)

The head of the World Health Organization on Tuesday said he deplored the strikes on the Palestine Red Crescent Society headquarters in Gaza, branding them "unconscionable".

WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said health must never be a target during conflicts, adding that Gazans were facing a "dire humanitarian catastrophe".

The Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) said that Israel twice struck its headquarters in the southern city of Khan Yunis, resulting in "five casualties and three injuries" among displaced people who had sought refuge there and at a nearby hospital.

"I deplore today's strikes on the PRCS-run Al-Amal hospital," Tedros said on X, formerly Twitter, AFP reported.

He said WHO staff and colleagues from the UN humanitarian agency OCHA undertook a mission to the facilities on Tuesday, "where they witnessed extensive damage and displacement of civilians".

Tedros claimed that 14,000 people were sheltering at the hospital.

"Many of them have now left, and those remaining are extremely fearful for their safety and planning to leave a place they had turned to for refuge and protection," the UN health agency's chief said.

"Hospitals, ambulances, health workers, and people seeking care must be protected, at all times, under international humanitarian law," he said.

"Today's bombardments are unconscionable. Gaza's health system is already on its knees, with health and aid workers continuously stymied in their efforts to save lives due to the hostilities."

He reiterated his call for an immediate ceasefire, alongside urgent action to get food, medical supplies and water to Gazan civilians "forced to live in unspeakable conditions of hunger, disease spread, and lack of hygiene and sanitation".

Tedros added that only a "fraction" of Gazans needing medical evacuation were being taken out of the Palestinian territory.

"This is unacceptable in light of the dire humanitarian catastrophe which has unfolded over three months," the Ethiopian former health minister said.

Israel has vowed to destroy Hamas in retaliation for the October 7 attack.

After the worst attack in its history, Israel began a relentless bombardment and ground offensive that has killed at least 22,185 people, mostly women and children, according to Gaza's health ministry.



Israeli Civilians Enter Lebanese Territory Near Houla

United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) soldiers patrol past the rubble of destroyed buildings in the village of Houla, southern Lebanon, 07 March 2025. EPA/WAEL HAMZEH
United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) soldiers patrol past the rubble of destroyed buildings in the village of Houla, southern Lebanon, 07 March 2025. EPA/WAEL HAMZEH
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Israeli Civilians Enter Lebanese Territory Near Houla

United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) soldiers patrol past the rubble of destroyed buildings in the village of Houla, southern Lebanon, 07 March 2025. EPA/WAEL HAMZEH
United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) soldiers patrol past the rubble of destroyed buildings in the village of Houla, southern Lebanon, 07 March 2025. EPA/WAEL HAMZEH

Lebanon’s army said Friday that the Israeli military had escorted Israeli civilians onto Lebanese territory to visit a Jewish shrine near the village of Houla without permission from Lebanese authorities.

The move was in violation of the US-brokered ceasefire agreement in late November that ended the Israel-Hezbollah war.

Hezbollah began firing rockets across the border on Oct. 8, 2023, one day after a deadly Hamas-led incursion into southern Israel that sparked the war in Gaza. Israel responded with shelling and airstrikes in Lebanon, and the two sides became locked in an escalating conflict that became a full-blown war in late September.
The army statement said the incident “represents a blatant violation of Lebanese national sovereignty” and of the ceasefire agreement under which Israel was supposed to withdraw its forces from all Lebanese territory last month.

The Israeli military withdrew from border villages, but stayed in five strategic overlook locations inside Lebanon. Lebanese leaders have denounced the continued presence of the Israeli troops as an occupation and a violation of the deal.