WHO chief reiterates call for protection of civilians, cease-fire in Gaza

By Burak Bir

LONDON (AA) - The World Health Organization’s (WHO) chief on Thursday urged the protection of all civilians, humanitarians and health workers in Gaza, repeating his call for an immediate cease-fire.

Citing the Wednesday's attack on the Khan Younis Training Centre in Gaza, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that the WHO team helped evacuate 45 patients to Al-Najjar Hospital, 15 of whom were in critical conditions but one patient died enroute.

"The intensity of fighting had increased and the team did not manage to evacuate all of the injured," Tedros wrote on X.

“We urge protection of all civilians, humanitarians and health workers. We appeal for an immediate ceasefire," he added.

Earlier, Thomas White, the head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) in Gaza, said that an attack on the Khan Younis Training Centre took place Wednesday, during which two tank rounds hit a building that shelters 800 people.

Israel launched a deadly offensive on the Gaza Strip in the wake of an Oct. 7 attack by Palestinian group Hamas, so far killing at least 25,700 Palestinians and injuring 63,740 others. Nearly 1,200 Israelis are believed to have been killed in the Hamas attack.

The Israeli war has left 85% of Gaza’s population internally displaced amid acute shortages of food, clean water, and medicine, while more than half of the enclave’s infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.