WHO says Gaza's Nasser hospital 'one massive trauma ward'

By Olivia Le Poidevin

GENEVA (Reuters) -Nasser hospital in Gaza is operating as "one massive trauma ward" due to an influx of patients wounded at non-United Nations food distribution sites run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, the World Health Organization said on Friday.

The U.S.-and Israeli-backed GHF began distributing food packages in Gaza at the end of May, overseeing a new model of deliveries that the United Nations says is neither impartial nor neutral. It has repeatedly denied that incidents involving people killed or wounded at its sites have occurred.

Referring to medical staff at the Nasser hospital, Rik Peeperkorn, WHO representative in the West Bank and Gaza, told reporters in Geneva: "They've seen already for weeks, daily injuries ... (the) majority coming from the so-called safe non-UN food distribution sites. The hospital is now operating as one massive trauma ward."

Israel lifted an 11-week aid blockade on Gaza on May 19.

The United Nations human rights office said on Friday that it had recorded at least 613 killings both at aid points run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation and near humanitarian convoys.

"We have recorded 613 killings, both at GHF points and near humanitarian convoys - this is a figure as of June 27. Since then ... there have been further incidents," Ravina Shamdasani, the spokesperson for the U.N. Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, told reporters in Geneva.

The OHCHR said 509 of the 613 were killed near GHF distribution points.

The GHF has previously said it has delivered more than 52 million meals to hungry Palestinians in five weeks "safely and without interference", while other humanitarian groups had "nearly all of their aid looted."

The U.N. office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said that there have been some instances of violent looting and attacks on aid truck drivers, which it described as unacceptable.

BULLET WOUNDS

Hundreds of patients, mainly young boys, were being treated for traumatic injuries, including bullet wounds to the head, chest and knees, according to the WHO.

Peeperkorn said health workers at Nasser hospital and testimonies from family members and friends of those wounded confirmed that the victims had been trying to access aid at sites run by the GHF.

Peeperkorn recounted the cases of a 13-year-old boy shot in the head, as well as a 21-year-old with a bullet lodged in his neck which rendered him paraplegic.

"There is no chance for any reversal or any proper treatment. Young lives are being destroyed forever," Peeperkorn said, urging for the fighting to stop and for more food aid to be allowed into Gaza.

The war began when Hamas fighters stormed into Israel on October 7, 2023, killing 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages back to Gaza, according to Israeli tallies.

Israel's subsequent military assault has killed more than 57,000 Palestinians, according to the Gaza health ministry, while displacing most of the population of more than 2 million, triggering widespread hunger and leaving much of the territory in ruins.

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Friday it would probably be known in 24 hours whether Hamas has agreed to accept what he has called a "final proposal" for a ceasefire in Gaza.

(Reporting by Olivia Le Poidevin, Editing by Miranda Murray and Alex Richardson)