Majority of medical equipment supplies at 'stock zero' in Gaza, WHO says

The majority of supplies of medical equipment have run out in Gaza, while 42% of basic medicines including pain killers are out of stock, the World Health Organization said on Monday.

"We are at stock zero of close to 64% of medical equipment and stock zero of 43% of essential medicines and 42% of vaccines," Hanan Balkhy, the WHO's Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean, told reporters in Geneva.

Balkhy said the WHO has 51 aid trucks waiting on the Gaza border that have not yet had clearance to enter the Palestinian enclave, where Israel last week slightly eased a total blockade on aid imposed in early March.

"Can you imagine a surgeon (fixing) a broken bone with no anaesthesia? IV fluids, needles, bandages - they do not exist in the quantities that are required," she said, adding that basic medications such as antibiotics, pain killers and drugs for chronic diseases were in short supply.

After an 11-week blockade, Israel - at war with Gaza's dominant militant group Hamas since October 2023 - allowed 100 aid trucks carrying flour, baby food and medical equipment into the Gaza Strip on May 21, none of them from the WHO.

Amidst ongoing shortages of medical equipment, the WHO confirmed that it would not take part in an alternative, US-backed aid plan to distribute aid, proposed by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. The United Nations has said the foundation is not impartial and its work could cause further displacement of civilians, exposes thousands to harm.

The GHF previously told Reuters its plan would enable aid to be delivered to people in need, without diversion to Hamas militants or criminal gangs.

Israel stopped all aid deliveries to Gaza on March 2 after accusing Hamas of stealing aid, which it denied, and demanding the release of all remaining hostages taken during Hamas' October 2023 attack on Israel.