WHO suspends Gaza medical evacuations after Israeli fire kills driver | Israel-Palestine conflict News

Evacuations will remain suspended until further notice, the WHO says, adding that the incident is under investigation.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has suspended medical evacuations from Gaza to Egypt after a contract worker was killed by Israeli fire.

WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on X late on Monday that the United Nations health agency was “devastated to confirm that a person contracted to provide services to the organisation in Gaza was killed today during a security incident”.

Two staff members who were also present were not injured, he added.

The WHO did not elaborate but said the incident was “under investigation by the relevant authorities”.

The WHO chief said the “medical evacuation of patients from Gaza via Rafah to Egypt” that had been planned for Monday was suspended, adding that further evacuations “will remain suspended until further notice”.

“We call for the protection of civilians and humanitarian workers,” he added.

After a long closure by the Israeli military, the Rafah crossing – the only crossing in Gaza that does not link to Israel – was reopened in February.

It was a desperately needed step. The link to Egypt is key for the entry of humanitarian supplies, and it is vital for those in need of medical aid to leave to seek treatment abroad.

The WHO has been overseeing coordination between Egypt and Israel since the opening of the Rafah crossing to facilitate those evacuations.

However, crossing numbers have been far below expectations due to intense checks during the process by the Israeli authorities. Israel has also continued to limit the entry of humanitarian aid into the besieged territory and shut the crossing in the early days of the United States-Israeli war on Iran.

Israel has also repeatedly violated the “ceasefire” that came into force on October 10 after two years of devastating war.

Referring to the incident on Monday in which a driver of a WHO car was killed, Israel’s mission in Geneva said “troops identified an unmarked vehicle approaching them and posing an immediate threat” and they “fired warning shots” in response.

“The vehicle continued to accelerate towards the troops, who then responded with additional fire, and a hit was identified,” the post said, adding that “the incident is under review.”