The World Health Organization (WHO) has intensified its humanitarian operations across the Gaza Strip following the entry into force of a ceasefire agreement between the Israeli occupation regime and the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas.

WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus announced that the agency has “deployed an emergency medical team within 24 hours” to support Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital in Gaza City, one of the few remaining health facilities still partially functional after months of relentless Israeli bombardment.

According to Tedros, additional medical teams are being prepared for deployment across Gaza City as displaced families cautiously begin returning to what remains of their neighborhoods.

In a post shared on X, Tedros stated that eight trucks loaded with vital medical supplies — including insulin, laboratory materials, and essential medicines — had been successfully delivered to Gaza. The WHO also reached the European Gaza Hospital, where it collected cancer medicines, intensive-care equipment, incubators, ventilators, and patient monitors before transferring them to Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis.

“Improving access to health facilities and expanding our operational missions are vital first steps toward delivering urgent health assistance to Palestinians throughout Gaza,”

Tedros emphasized, reaffirming the organization’s commitment to sustain and scale its presence inside the besieged enclave.

The WHO chief welcomed the first exchange of prisoners under the ceasefire deal — involving the release of 20 living Israeli captives held in Gaza in return for the release of Palestinian detainees from Israeli prisons — describing it as “a step that brings hope to all who have endured immense suffering over the past two years.”

He further underlined that Gaza’s shattered health system must not only be restored but rebuilt — stronger, fairer, and more responsive to the needs of its people.

“The best medicine is peace,” Tedros said, calling for a permanent end to the violence that has devastated Gaza’s population and health infrastructure.

The current ceasefire, brokered under U.S. President Donald Trump’s plan to end the two-year-long Zionist onslaught, began on Friday, marking a crucial if fragile respite for the war-torn territory.

Since October 2023, Israel’s aggression has killed nearly 68,000 Palestinians, the overwhelming majority of them women and children, according to Gaza’s health authorities. Independent experts warn that the true death toll is likely far higher, as thousands remain buried under the rubble.

Over the course of the campaign, Israel obliterated entire neighborhoods, schools, mosques, and hospitals, reducing much of the enclave to rubble and displacing nearly its entire population of over 2 million people.

Despite the catastrophic destruction, humanitarian agencies stress that Gaza’s resilience endures, and efforts are now focused on reviving essential life-saving services — particularly in the health sector, where shortages of fuel, medicine, and surgical capacity have pushed the system to collapse.

As ceasefire arrangements continue and international aid begins to trickle in, the WHO and other relief organizations are urging unhindered humanitarian access and sustained global support to prevent further loss of life and lay the groundwork for Gaza’s recovery. (ILKHA)