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.



Israel Says it Attacked Hezbollah's Intelligence HQ in Beirut

Smoke billows over Beirut's southern suburbs after an Israeli strike, as seen from Hadath, Lebanon October 20, 2024. REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany
Smoke billows over Beirut's southern suburbs after an Israeli strike, as seen from Hadath, Lebanon October 20, 2024. REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany
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Israel Says it Attacked Hezbollah's Intelligence HQ in Beirut

Smoke billows over Beirut's southern suburbs after an Israeli strike, as seen from Hadath, Lebanon October 20, 2024. REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany
Smoke billows over Beirut's southern suburbs after an Israeli strike, as seen from Hadath, Lebanon October 20, 2024. REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany

Israel carried out at least three air raids on Beirut’s southern suburbs on Sunday after issuing evacuation orders.

Israel said its air force attacked Hezbollah's intelligence headquarters and an underground workshop for the production of weapons in Beirut.

In a statement, the Israeli military said its fighter jets killed three Hezbollah commanders, including Alhaj Abbas Salameh, a senior figure in the group's southern command, Radja Abbas Awache, a communications expert, and Ahmad Ali Hussein, who it said was responsible for strategic weapons development.
It was not clear if the three were killed in the attack on the headquarters or in separate actions.

A day earlier, Israel carried out heavy strikes on several locations in Beirut's southern suburbs, leaving thick plumes of smoke hanging over the city into the evening.

The strikes targeted "a number of Hezbollah weapons storage facilities and a Hezbollah intelligence headquarters command center,” Israel's military said.

Israel had issued evacuation orders for four separate neighborhoods within the suburbs, urging residents to get 500 meters away, but carried out strikes in other areas as well, witnesses said.

Tens of thousands of people have fled the southern suburbs - once a densely populated zone that also housed Hezbollah offices and underground installations - since Israel began regular strikes there about three weeks ago.

An Israeli air attack on Sept. 27 killed Hezbollah's secretary general Hassan Nasrallah, and strikes nearby have killed other top figures from the Iran-backed group.