WHO: Medical aid for Gaza holding at Rafah crossing

The World Health Organization (WHO) said Monday that medical aid for Gaza is holding on the other side of the Rafah crossing as hospitals are reaching a breaking point.

The U.N. health agency said enough aid to treat 300,000 patients is waiting on the Egyptian side of the Rafah crossing, noting its trucks have been there for days since the crossing was shut down due to Israeli airstrikes. Foreigners have been trying to escape through the Rafah crossing into Egypt as humanitarian aid workers want to get in to help Gaza.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the director-general of WHO, said he has heard reports a cease-fire may allow aid into Gaza.

“Very relieved about reports of a ceasefire allowing life-saving supplies to enter into Gaza from Egypt. @WHO’s planeload of medical supplies arrived near Rafah on Saturday and we are working with partners to transport them into Gaza today if at all possible. Many civilians are in serious need,” he wrote in a post on X, formerly Twitter.

Efforts to arrange a cease-fire reportedly failed, however.

These supplies are much needed in Gaza, where hospitals are rationing supplies amid the ongoing war. After Hamas infiltrated Israel more than a week ago, Israel cut off food, water and electricity to Gaza — which has risked the health of millions of Palestinian civilians.

The Associated Press reported Monday that emergency generators that power machines like ventilators and incubators in hospitals are down to about one day of fuel. Medicine supplies are also almost exhausted.

Israel last week ordered the evacuation of more than 1.1 million Palestinians in northern Gaza in anticipation of a ground offensive. The WHO condemned the move, saying the evacuation orders were a “death sentence for the sick and injured.”

The WHO said four hospitals are no longer operational in northern Gaza “as a result of damage and targeting” and suggested the evacuation of hospitals could be in violation of humanitarian law.

At least 2,750 Palestinians have been killed and another 9,700 wounded, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. More than 1,400 Israelis have been killed with at least 199 being captured by Hamas and brought into Gaza, according to Israel.

The Associated Press contributed.