World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that Palestinians in the Gaza Strip are dying from preventable diseases while medicines wait in aid trucks at the border.

This came during his meeting, on Thursday, with journalists from the Union of Media Correspondents accredited to the United Nations Office in Geneva, during which he assessed global health issues.

Ghebreyesus stressed that the situation in the Gaza Strip has reached catastrophic levels due to Israel's prevention of aid reaching Palestinians for two months.

He added: "While two million people are facing starvation in Gaza, 116,000 tons of food are being prevented from entering just minutes from the border."

He continued, "The increasing attacks, evacuation orders, and blockade of aid are all taking a heavy toll on a health system already in shambles."

He pointed out that Israeli attacks on hospitals in Gaza are forcing patients to refrain from seeking care for fear of their safety.

Ghebreyesus stressed that Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip are contributing to the disruption of health facilities and cutting off the lifeline for Palestinians.

In early March 2025, the first phase of a ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement between Hamas and Israel, which had been in effect since January 19, 2025, concluded. However, Israel reneged on the agreement and resumed its genocide on the 18th of the same month.

Since March 2, Israel has closed the Gaza Strip's crossings to the entry of food, relief, medical aid, and goods, causing a significant deterioration in the humanitarian situation for Palestinians, according to government, human rights, and international reports.

The 2.4 million Palestinians in Gaza are entirely dependent on this aid after Israel's ongoing genocide over the past 19 months rendered them impoverished, according to World Bank data.

This humanitarian crisis comes amidst the displacement of more than 90 percent of Gaza's Palestinians from their homes, some of whom have experienced this more than once, living in overcrowded shelters or out in the open, increasing the spread of diseases and epidemics.