The health organization fears that these contacts might have joined the tens of thousands of displaced Palestinians fleeing from northern Gaza.
“WHO has lost communication with its contacts in Al-Shifa Hospital in northern Gaza. As horrifying reports of the hospital facing repeated attacks continue to emerge, we assume our contacts joined tens of thousands of displaced people and are fleeing the area,” the Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean said on X.
Israeli strikes pounded Gaza City overnight and into Sunday as ground forces battled Hamas militants near the territory’s largest hospital, where health officials say thousands of medics, patients and displaced people are trapped with no electricity and dwindling supplies.
In a televised address on Saturday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected growing international calls for a ceasefire unless it includes the release of all 239 hostages captured by Hamas in the Oct. 7 , saying Israel was bringing its “full force” to the battle.
Israel has come under mounting international pressure, even from its closest ally, the United States, as the war enters a sixth week. A 57-nation gathering of Muslim and Arab leaders in Saudi Arabia on Saturday called for the war to end, and an estimated one million pro-Palestinian protesters marched peacefully through London according to the organisers.
