The Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, has announced that the WHO will not participate in the creation of a “safe zone” in the Gaza Strip. He made this statement during the official plenary session of the United Nations General Assembly in Geneva, as reported by the WHO press office.
According to Ghebreyesus, the proposal to establish a “safe zone” in the Al-Mawasi area in the southern part of the Gaza Strip is a “recipe for disaster” due to the inadequate infrastructure to safely accommodate over a million people in that territory.
Previously, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) claimed that Hamas was present in all hospitals in Gaza.
The situation in the Middle East escalated after thousands of Hamas militants infiltrated Israeli territory from the Gaza Strip on October 7, when Hamas announced the beginning of the “Al-Aqsa Flood” operation. In response, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared that the country was in a state of war.
The goal of Israel’s retaliatory operation, named “Iron Swords,” was to repel the attack, free over 200 hostages, including foreigners, and destroy Hamas. As part of achieving this objective, Israel carried out massive missile strikes on the Gaza Strip from the first day of the operation. Additionally, the Israeli National Security Council decided to halt the supply of water, food, goods, electricity, and fuel to the Strip. Humanitarian aid deliveries to Gaza only resumed through the Rafah Crossing after October 20, with their volume being deemed insufficient.
On October 27, Israel announced an “expansion” of its ground operation in Gaza. The exact start date of this operation is unknown, but in its lead-up, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians evacuated their homes and sought refuge in shelters and in the southern part of the enclave. As of November 5, fighting continues in the center of Gaza, as the IDF has surrounded the city and cut off its supply lines.
Earlier, Israeli President Isaac Herzog stated that Hamas’ command center is located beneath the central hospital in the Gaza Strip.
