Shafaqna English- Delays in securing approval from the Israel for humanitarian shipments into Gaza were causing chronic shortages of medical supplies, the World Health Organization warned Friday, with large volumes of medical equipment waiting for clearance for a median of 74 days.
Reinhilde Van de Weerdt, the WHO’s representative in the Palestinian territories, described the health situation in Gaza as “utterly dire,” warning that the volume of humanitarian aid entering the territory was insufficient to meaningfully expand or restore health services.
Speaking to reporters in Geneva from Jerusalem, Van de Weerdt identified Israel’s approval system for medical and other humanitarian supplies as a major bottleneck, describing it as laborious and time-consuming with no guaranteed outcome.
According to the WHO’s latest analysis, large volumes of medical supplies waited for clearance for a median of 74 days. If approval was not granted, the lengthy process had to begin again, she explained.
“The approval system was also subject to frequent changes and new regulations. Standard health kits used worldwide had the lowest approval rate, while X-ray machines, sterilization equipment and spare parts for CT scanners and other essential machinery were regularly rejected.”
Over the previous six months, one shipment of prosthetics and assistive devices had been rejected four times, Van de Weerdt added.
Medicines, by contrast, were moving “relatively well,” with nearly 87% approved and 1% rejected.
“It’s not one single blockage. It’s a system, layered with delay after delay… and on the other side of every one of these delays is a patient who is waiting,” Van de Weerdt stressed.
“We need the unimpeded and predictable entry of humanitarian and health supplies into Gaza, at scale,” said WHO’s representative in the Palestinian territories.
Source: Middle East Eye