The World Health Organization has once again sounded alarm on deepening humanitarian and medical crisis in war-torn Gaza, calling on the international community to take urgent steps to alleviate the grave peril facing Palestinians in the besieged territory.

“Gaza cannot afford to lose any more hospitals,” said Richard Peeperkorn, WHO representative in office for Gaza and the West Bank.

According to the latest WHO assessments, Gaza has 13 partially functioning hospitals, two minimally functioning ones, and 21 that are not functioning at all.

“WHO is working to strengthen and expand the existing struggling health system,” Peeperkorn added, according to a WHO post on social media on Wednesday.

More than 21,000 people, most of them children and women, have been killed in Gaza since the onset of the military campaign that the Israeli regime waged following an October 7 operation by Gaza’s resistance movements.

“WHO is extremely concerned this fresh displacement of people will further strain health facilities in the south, which are already struggling to meet the population’s immense needs,” the post said.

“This forced mass movement of people will also lead to more overcrowding, increased risk of infectious diseases, and make it even harder to deliver humanitarian aid.”

‘Grave peril’

Also on Wednesday, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus repeated a call on the international community “to take urgent steps to alleviate the grave peril facing the population of Gaza and jeopardizing the ability of humanitarian workers to help people with terrible injuries, acute hunger, and at severe risk of disease.”

The remarks came a day after WHO’s staff went on a high-risk mission to deliver humanitarian supplies to Al-Shifa Hospital in northern Gaza and Al-Amal Palestine Red Crescent Society in southern Gaza.

Both hospitals serve as shelters for displaced Palestinians seeking safety amid relentless Israeli bombardment. At Al-Shifa Hospital, a reported 50,000 people are sheltering, while 14,000.others are at Al-Amal.

Attending al-Amal, “WHO staff reported finding it impossible to walk inside the hospital without stepping over patients and those seeking refuge.”

Ghebreyesus said, “My own colleagues in Gaza are also being directly and personally affected by the conflict, just like virtually everyone there.”

He added, “The recent United Nations Security Council resolution appeared to provide hope of an improvement in humanitarian aid distribution within Gaza,”

WHO chief said, “However, based on WHO eyewitness accounts on the ground, the resolution is tragically yet to have an impact. What we urgently need right now is a ceasefire to spare civilians from further violence and begin the long road towards reconstruction and peace.”