Medical supplies for Gaza face 74-day Israeli clearance wait: WHO

The World Health Organization said Friday that large volumes of medical supplies bound for Gaza wait a median of 74 days for Israeli clearance, warning that not one hospital in the Palestinian territory is currently fully functional amid chronic shortages of essential medicines and equipment. Reinhilde Van De Weerdt, WHO representative in the occupied Palestinian territory, told reporters in Geneva that restoring health services remains impossible without predictable aid flows. "Not one hospital in Gaza is fully functional," she said, adding that the lengthy clearance process forces agencies to restart applications with no guarantee of approval.

Equipment rejections and expiry risks

According to the WHO analysis, medicines have an approval rate of nearly 87%, but medical equipment including X-ray machines and CT scanner parts is regularly rejected without explanation. "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," Van De Weerdt warned. She noted that such delays undermine efforts to rebuild health infrastructure more than a year after the ceasefire was announced.

Security constraints at crossings

The security situation in Gaza remains "very, very precarious," Van De Weerdt stated, describing how WHO teams must use armored vehicles and personal protective equipment to collect supplies from the Kerem Shalom crossing. Logistical staff often face delays traveling through Israeli-controlled areas, leaving early morning and returning late evening with shipments that waited weeks at the border. The WHO called for the "unimpeded and predictable" entry of humanitarian supplies at scale through multiple crossings to prevent further collapse of the medical system.