WHO: Gaza Aid Crossings Must Open Before Winter — SkimNews
Get the Geopolitics newsletter
Daily geopolitics — wars, elections, sanctions, the diplomatic moves that move markets. Free.
- WHO appealed Friday for a massive, multi-crossing aid influx into Gaza before winter, warning that repeated delays in delivering medicines, prosthetics, and other supplies risk devastating consequences for Palestinians in the war-torn enclave.
- Only Kerem Shalom in southern Gaza is open for aid delivery; four other main entry points — Kissufim, Gate 96, Erez, and Erez West — remain closed, and Rafah is open only for the limited movement of people such as patients needing treatment abroad.
- WHO Representative Dr. Reinhilde Van De Weerdt urged Israeli authorities to stop classifying essential medicines as "dual use" items, calling them "globally accepted standards on medical items anybody needs anywhere to run a hospital or a clinic."
- One shipment of prosthetics and assistive devices was rejected four times in the past six months; medicines fare comparatively better, with roughly 87% of requests approved and just over 1% rejected.
- Nearly two million people in Gaza urgently need shelter to withstand cold and flooding, conditions that historically drive preventable disease outbreaks alongside contaminated water and rat bites, while the destruction of public health labs complicates epidemic identification.
- OCHA warned Thursday that accumulated solid waste in Gaza City poses serious public health risks, and mine action partners say they still lack the permissions and equipment to clear unexploded ordnance flagged across 37 assessment missions.
Why it matters: With only one of six main crossings open for aid and a fragile ceasefire nearly 12 months old, the bottleneck is no longer supply but Israeli clearance — and the WHO's own data, including a prosthetics shipment rejected four times, shows a system functionally blocking reconstruction of war casualties alongside emergency relief for two million people heading into winter.
Ask SkimNews
