Large volumes of medical supplies for Gaza face wait times of 74 days for Israeli clearance: WHO

'Every extra day in storage or in transit brings medicines a day closer to expiry, an equipment closer to being damaged before it ever reaches the person who needs it,' says WHO representative

Large volumes of medical supplies meant for Gaza wait a median of 74 days for clearance by Israeli authorities, the World Health Organization said Friday, urging “unimpeded and predictable” access for the much-needed aid. “Not one hospital in Gaza is fully functional,” Reinhilde Van De Weerdt, WHO representative in the occupied Palestinian territory, told reporters in Geneva. Van De Weerdt said chronic shortages of medicines and medical supplies remain a major obstacle to restoring health services, despite a year having passed since the ceasefire was announced. "Without those items, no hospital will ever be fully or even partially functional," she said. According to the WHO's latest analysis, large volumes of medical supplies wait a median of 74 days, roughly 2 1/2 months, for Israeli clearance. “If the shipment hasn't been approved, then we start that lengthy, cumbersome process all over again with no guarantees for a different outcome,” she said. Medicines have an approval rate of nearly 87%, while medical equipment – including X-ray machines, sterilization equipment, and spare parts for CT scanners – is regularly rejected, she said, "often with no explanation given." "Every extra day in storage or in transit brings medicines a day closer to expiry, an equipment closer to being damaged before it ever reaches the person who needs it," she warned. She also described the security situation in Gaza as “very, very precarious,” saying collecting medical supplies from the Kerem Shalom crossing requires WHO teams to travel through an area controlled by the Israeli military using armored vehicles and personal protective equipment. The process must be coordinated with Israeli authorities and teams often face delays in receiving the green light, she said, adding that logistical staff can leave early in the morning and return late in the evening with supplies that had been waiting at the crossing. The WHO called for the “unimpeded and predictable” entry of humanitarian and health supplies into Gaza at scale and the use of multiple crossings.