Situation in northern Gaza 'catastrophic': WHO chief

The World Health Organization (WHO) chief warned on Saturday of a disastrous situation in the north of the war-ravaged Gaza Strip, with "intensive military operations unfolding around and within healthcare facilities".

"The situation in northern Gaza is catastrophic," Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on X, warning that "a critical shortage of medical supplies, compounded by severely limited access, are depriving people of life saving care".

He pointed in particular to the situation at Kamal Adwan, northern Gaza's last functioning hospital, which was stormed by Israeli forces on Friday, according to Gaza's health ministry.

Israeli forces withdrew from the hospital complex on Saturday, and the Palestinian enclave's health ministry said the troops had detained dozens of male medical staffers and some of the patients.

Medical staffers have refused Israeli army orders to evacuate the hospital or leave their patients unattended.

The Israeli military said it had expanded the humanitarian-designated area of Al-Mawasi in the southern Gaza Strip, where the army has in the past told Palestinians to go when forced to evacuate their homes.

The ministry charged that the raid on the facility in the Jabalia camp, where Israel launched a major operation earlier this month, left two children dead.

"Reports of the hospital facilities and medical supplies being damaged or destroyed during the siege are deplorable," he said.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) described the situation in northern Gaza as "extremely dire" and said people wishing to evacuate must be assured safe passage.

Israeli military strikes on the towns of Jabalia, Beit Hanoun and Beit Lahiya in northern Gaza have so far killed around 800 people during a three-week offensive, the Gaza ministry added.

Israel's campaign has killed 42,924 people in Gaza, the majority civilians, according to figures from the Hamas-run territory's health ministry which the United Nations considers reliable.