World Health Organization (WHO) staff will remain in Gaza City despite calls from the Israeli military to evacuate during its offensive there, the agency reported.

“To civilians in Gaza: WHO and its partners remain in Gaza City,” a post on WHO’s X account stated.

The Israeli army is intensifying its attacks on Gaza City — the main urban center in the besieged Gaza Strip — with the aim of taking control of the city. This week, it warned civilians to leave.

The UN estimates that around one million Palestinians live in and around Gaza City.

“WHO is appalled by the latest evacuation order,” said agency head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on X.

He noted that Israel’s demand for one million people to move to what it calls a “humanitarian zone” in the southern Gaza Strip is impossible to fulfill.

“The zone lacks both the size and the scale of services necessary to sustain those already there, let alone newcomers,” he said.

Tedros emphasized that half of the functioning hospitals in the Gaza Strip are located in Gaza City, and “the already broken health system cannot afford to lose any of these remaining facilities.”

He called on the international community to “act,” noting that in Gaza “this catastrophic scenario is man-made, and the responsibility lies with all of us.”

Israel has conducted offensive operations in Gaza since October 2023, following a deadly attack by Hamas that killed 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to Israeli data.

Israel’s counter-offensive has killed over 64,000 Palestinians, mostly civilians, according to the Ministry of Health in Hamas-controlled Gaza, which the UN considers credible.

The UN has declared famine in parts of Gaza, which Israel disputes. | BGNES