The Director-General of the World Health Organization, Dr. Tedros Adhanom, described what is happening at "Al-Shifa" Hospital in Gaza Strip as "unacceptable," stressing that hospitals are not battlegrounds.

Adhanom expressed, during a press conference this Wednesday evening at the organization's headquarters in Geneva, the organization's deep concern about the situation of patients in the hospital, noting that the organization has lost contact with the health workers at the hospital, and that patients, health workers, and ambulances can no longer enter or leave it.

He confirmed that health facilities, health workers, patients, and ambulances are protected under international law, and should be protected in military planning, emphasizing that even if these facilities are used for military purposes, precautions must also be taken.

Adhanom said, "I spoke to some of the organization's health workers who were displaced from northern Gaza to ensure their safety and the safety of their families, and they said there is no longer water, food, or electricity, and there is only bombing, bombing, and bombing... I also spoke to some members of a team of international workers who arrived in Gaza to coordinate the organization's operations this morning, and they confirmed that the first and urgent need is a ceasefire, in addition to ensuring the continued entry of humanitarian aid, ensuring the security of humanitarian workers and the movement of aid within Gaza to deliver it safely, as well as restoring electricity and supplying fuel."

He explained that only a quarter of Gaza's hospitals are still operational, emphasizing the necessity to protect health facilities, health workers, ambulances, and patients from all acts of war, and pointed out that the organization has not received any updates in the past three days regarding the number of casualties in Gaza, which may indicate that the health system is indeed no longer functioning there.