The World Health Organization (WHO) delivered medical aid to Gaza on Thursday for the first time since March 2, after Israeli blockades made aid impossible in recent months.
“Nine trucks with essential medical supplies, 2,000 units of blood, and 1,500 units of plasma,” WHO Director Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus listed on X.
The blood and plasma arrived without problems at a cold storage facility of the Nasser Medical Complex. “Despite the risky conditions along the route,” Tedros writes, citing the potential for looting.
The blood and plasma are being transported from the Nasser Medical Complex to hospitals facing severe shortages.
The video Tedros shared on X shows the devastation on the route from the Kerem Shalom border crossing.
Many injured during food distribution
The number of injured continues to grow, according to Tedros. Many were injured at food distribution sites, consistent with figures from the UN human rights office.
The UN reported on Tuesday that over four hundred Gazans have been killed trying to reach locations of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), a controversial organization distributing food aid since late May.
“Desperate, hungry people in Gaza continue to face an inhuman choice: starve or risk being killed trying to get food,” a UN spokesperson said.
The Israeli army has carried out several attacks on food distribution sites run by the GHF. The army often responds to such incidents by saying warning shots were fired or that groups of Gazans deviated from approach routes and approached Israeli troops.
In May, the first humanitarian aid arrived in Gaza after Israel instituted a blockade on March 2 to stop food, medicine, and other necessities from aid organizations. The Red Cross immediately said that the aid reaching Gaza then was “insufficient.”
Tedros says the same about the nine trucks of medical aid that arrived this week. “These medical supplies are just a drop in the bucket,” said the WHO director. According to him, four more WHO trucks are at the Kerem Shalom border crossing, and more are on their way to Gaza.