The United Nations Office at Geneva
Multimedia Newsroom
‘We need all routes to open’: in Gaza WHO calls for ramp-up of medevacs, easier access for essentials
Two weeks since a ceasefire agreement entered into force in Gaza the World Health Organization (WHO) noted progress on the flow of aid while calling for more evacuations of critical patients and eased entry for essential medicines and supplies.
Speaking from Jerusalem on Friday, WHO’s representative in the occupied Palestinian territory, Dr. Rik Peeperkorn, said that while the agency has been rapidly scaling up its operations, more access routes into the enclave are needed.
“Opening up all the crossings is critical and even more so to get diverse food, shelter and all shelter-related items with the winter approaching,” he said, briefing reporters in Geneva.
Only the Kerem Shalom and Kissufim crossings in the southern half of the Strip are open. Dr. Peeperkorn reiterated recent calls from humanitarians to open the Rafah crossing for people and goods, as well as Zikim and Erez crossings, as their closure limits direct access to the famine-stricken north, “making it difficult to deliver critical support… to health facilities on the scale required”.
The WHO representative highlighted the devastation of Gaza’s health system following two years of a brutal war and underscored the urgent need for more hospital capacity, currently limited to some 2,100 inpatient beds across for a population of 2.1 million.
Several major health facilities including Kamal Adwan, Al-Awda, Indonesian and European Gaza Hospital lie beyond the “yellow line” to which Israeli forces withdrew earlier this month as part of the first stage of the US-driven peace plan for Gaza, making them “inaccessible for people and non-functional”, Dr. Peeperkorn said.
More than 170,000 people have been injured over the course of the conflict and lives are on the line as many critical patients are unable to access treatment within the enclave. Dr. Peeperkorn said that on Thursday WHO carried out the first medical evacuation since the ceasefire, of 41 patients and 145 companions, to various countries.
The agency aims to scale up medical evacuations to a minimum of 50 patients per day plus companions, in line with the previous ceasefire.
“All medical corridors need to be opened,” Dr. Peeperkorn insisted, as some 15,000 people including almost 4,000 children are in need of medical evacuation. “The most important one would be the reopening of the West Bank, including East Jerusalem referral hospitals... It is vital and it's the most cost-effective route.”
The WHO representative added that the reopening of this route would be a “game changer”. He also called for the reopening of Rafah crossing for daily medical evacuations into Egypt while also “continuing regular medevacs through Kerem Shalom to Ramon Airport [in Israel] and Jordan”.
“The other key ask is that we need more countries to step forward to receive patients,” Dr. Peeperkorn said. “For next week, we have two medevac plans, but… we want to be able to do medevacs every day.”
Asked about his impressions following the first meetings earlier this week of the Civil-Military Coordination Centre set up by the US to oversee the implementation of the ceasefire, the UN health agency representative said that he wants to be “hopeful”.
The meetings brought together Israeli authorities and the UN and partners. Dr. Peeperkorn said that the new mechanism should facilitate the rapid entry of aid and also, in the future, of “massive supplies for recovery and reconstruction”.
On Thursday the Deputy Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Ramiz Alakbarov, told the Security Council that the UN is “closely engaging in all relevant coordination mechanisms” and welcomed efforts to facilitate a scaling up of assistance, including through the new Centre.
WHO’s Dr. Peeperkorn highlighted the most urgent improvements to be made and described concrete steps to shorten approval delays for Gaza-bound relief items.
“We made a consolidated list of essential medicines and medical supplies… priority items which are used in every hospital around the world,” he said. “We want to get a kind of a blanket approval for that list… that would help a lot.”
Dr. Peeperkorn also expressed hope for a “completely different approach” towards so-called dual-use items, the entry of which is restricted due to concerns around potential military applications.
“We need CT scans in, we need spare parts in, we need MRIs in, we need X-rays in, we need ultrasounds in,” he said. “All of that has been consistently delayed or has been made very difficult... I do expect with the Civil-Military Coordination Centre that this will be facilitated in the future,” he explained.
“We all know that this will be a long and winding road, with a lot of setbacks and obstructions,” the UN health agency representative said. “But we can only be hopeful that this ceasefire will hold, that we go to peace and we get to a proper political solution.”
-ENDS -
STORY Gaza health update - WHO
TRT: 2:45”
SOURCE: UNTV CH
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH/NATS
ASPECT RATIO: 16:9
DATELINE: 24 OCTOBER 2025 GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
1. Exterior wide shot: Palais des Nations, Flag Alley.
2. Wide shot: Speaker at the podium of the press conference; speaker on screens; journalists in the Press room.
3. SOUNDBITE (English) – Dr. Rik Peeperkorn, Representative in the occupied Palestinian territory, World Health Organization (WHO): “Opening up all the crossings is critical and even more so to get diverse food, shelter and all shelter-related items with the winter approaching.”
4. Medium shot: Speaker at the podium of the press conference; speaker on screens.
5. SOUNDBITE (English) – Dr. Rik Peeperkorn, Representative in the occupied Palestinian territory, World Health Organization (WHO): “Currently, the Kerem Shalom and Kissufim crossings are open and allowing more supplies to flow into Gaza. However, Rafah crossing for people and goods is still not open and Zikim and Erez crossing also remain closed, limiting direct access to the north and making it difficult to deliver critical support for us to health facilities on the scale required.”
6. Wide shot: Speaker on screens; journalists in the Press room.
7. SOUNDBITE (English) – Dr. Rik Peeperkorn, Representative in the occupied Palestinian territory, World Health Organization (WHO): “Several key facilities that lie beyond the so-called ceasefire, this yellow line where everybody is discussing, including Kamal Adwan, Al-Awda, Indonesian, European Gaza Hospital are inaccessible for people and non-functional.”
8. Wide shot: Speaker on screens; journalists in the Press room.
9. SOUNDBITE (English) – Dr. Rik Peeperkorn, Representative in the occupied Palestinian territory, World Health Organization (WHO): “Around 15,000 plus people, of which almost 4,000 children, need medical evacuation. So our key asks are very clear on this on this file. First, all medical corridors need to be opened. The most important one would be the reopening of the West Bank, including East Jerusalem referral hospitals and referral route. It is vital and it's the most cost-effective route. If that route opens, it would really be a little game changer.”
10. Medium shot: Speaker at the podium of the press conference; speaker on screens.
11. SOUNDBITE (English) – Dr. Rik Peeperkorn, Representative in the occupied Palestinian territory, World Health Organization (WHO): “The other key ask is that we need more countries to step forward to receive patients. For next week, we have two medevac plans, but as I stated before, we want to be able to do medevacs every day.”
12. Medium shot: Journalist in the Press room.
13. SOUNDBITE (English) – Dr. Rik Peeperkorn, Representative in the occupied Palestinian territory, World Health Organization (WHO): “We made a consolidated list of essential medicines and medical supplies and consumables, which are absolutely priority items and which are used in every hospital around the world, and we want to get a kind of a blanket approval for that list. That's the first, that would help a lot.”
14. Medium shot: Speaker at the podium of the press conference; speaker on screens.
15. SOUNDBITE (English) – Dr. Rik Peeperkorn, Representative in the occupied Palestinian territory, World Health Organization (WHO): “We all know that this will be a long and winding road, with a lot of setbacks and obstructions, etcetera. But we can only be hopeful that this ceasefire will hold, that we go to peace and we get to a proper political solution.”
16. Various shots of journalists in the Press room.
Similar Stories
1
1
1
Edited News | IOM , OHCHR , UNFPA , UNOG , UNHCR , WHO
Yemen’s humanitarian crisis growing by the hour amid spike in displacement
Yemenis displaced by renewed fighting have described fleeing for their lives amid shelling and gunfire, aid agencies reported on Friday, while highlighting the dramatic increase in humanitarian needs in the country and in Djibouti, where thousands have sought shelter.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
The UN Human Rights Office issued on Friday a report documenting a shocking pattern of sexual violence amid Russia’s full-scale armed attack on Ukraine.
2
1
2
Edited News , Press Conferences | WMO
As world’s water reserves change, countries must prepare for a new reality: WMO
New data showing that rivers were at their lowest level for decades last year provides further evidence that the climate crisis is real and countries must act immediately to protect themselves from the increasing threat to communities and livelihoods, the UN World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said on Thursday.
The key findings from WMO’s State of Global Water Resources 2025 report covering the hydrological cycle and extreme events in the five-year period to last year:
- 2025 was one of driest years for river discharge in 35 years
- Past seven years have seen abnorfmal river flows
- Water storage on Earth’s land surface has decreased in past decade
- Widespread glacier loss across all regions for fourth consecutive year
- Asia and Africa are regions most affected by water-related disasters
- Water data availability has improved, but gaps remain in hard-hit areas
Highlighting the long-term decline in the Earth’s freshwater storage and glacier melt, WMO Secretary-General Celeste Saulo explained that the planet’s water reserves used to act as a planetary “savings account” that absorbed the occasional dry season, avoiding a water crisis. “One of the central stories of the 2025 report is what is happening to that savings account? And the simple answer is that we are depleting it,” she told journalists in Geneva.
Groundwater reserves are equally stretched and have been in decline since 2014, WMO’s report states, with nearly two-thirds of monitored wells worldwide showing levels lower than the historical norm and indicating a shift “further toward deficit…not recovery”.
“At the same time, we are seeing more water-related disasters,” Ms. Saulo said, while also stressing that the currently strengthening El Niño “will increase the risk of drought in some areas, and flooding in others”.
Glaciers disappearing
In 2025, for the fourth consecutive year, every major glaciated region on Earth lost ice mass, leading to short-term hazards including floods and long-term water insecurity, according to WMO.
Responding to a question about whether the changing global water cycle might have contributed to the deadly Nepal-China flooding disaster, Ms. Saulo explained that melting ice and rock was just one factor in the chain of events that ultimately sent a massive and deadly wall of water and debris downstream on 26 August, killing at least 1,367 people.
“You asked if it could happen again? Absolutely; the problem in this region is that there’s 63,700 glaciers at the last count,” she told a Press Conference in Geneva. “Even if you’re looking with remote sensing with satellites at these glaciers, you might see some faults, you might see some slight shifting, that does not mean necessarily catastrophic collapse. So, in order to plan for this, it’s very, very difficult. But the international community is looking very hard at ways in which we can bring people together to solve some of these monitoring issues.”
Data indicates that glaciers shrank between 2023 and 2025 with cumulative losses of 1,400 gigatonnes of water – or about one third of annual fresh water needs.
Every major glacier region on Earth lost ice for the fourth consecutive year.
“All 19 glacier regions around the globe lost ice; in Central Asia, Iceland, the Russian Arctic and western Canada and the United States, it was among the three worst years on record,” said Wayne Jenkinson, WMO’s Director of Hydrology and Cryosphere.
Some regions with smaller glaciers such as Central Europe, the Caucasus, the western Canada and the United States may already have reached “peak water”, Mr. Jenkinson warned.
“After this point, the glacier gives less meltwater each year simply because there is less ice left to melt. That matters for every community downstream that relies on water during hot, dry summers,” he explained.
Narelle van der Wel, WMO’s Head of Cryosphere Monitoring, Predictions and Services, stressed that while some further glacier loss is unavoidable, the eventual scale of the decline is not predetermined.
“Some glacier loss is inevitable, but total loss of glaciers is not yet inevitable,” she said, pointing to emissions reductions as central to limiting future losses.
Preparing for moving baselines
The report does not attribute every observed change to climate change alone. WMO says pressure on water resources and natural variability also contribute.
Mr. Jenkinson said governments need to prepare for “moving baselines” as historical patterns become less reliable.
“The situation 30 years ago is not where we are today,” he said. Countries, he added, need to prepare “for those changes that have really already arrived”.
ends
1
1
1
Edited News | OCHA , WHO
The deadly Ebola virus outbreak in DR Congo continues to spread across the vast country despite some success in containing it, aid officials said on Tuesday, in a renewed call for international support to help responders on the ground.
2
1
2
Press Conferences , Edited News | WFP
‘Super El Niño’ and converging crises worsen hunger in South Sudan and across the region - WFP
South Sudan’s hunger crisis is becoming increasingly catastrophic as violence, extreme weather and dwindling aid leave millions without enough food, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) warned on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | UN WOMEN
In war-torn Gaza, a growing number of women-headed households face “impossible decisions” every day, amid ongoing Israeli airstrikes and still-scarce resources, UN humanitarians said on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk made the following remarks to the Enhanced Interactive Dialogue on the Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar at the 63rd Human Rights Council.
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk today delivered an update on the global human rights situation to the 63rdsession of the Human Rights Council in Geneva.
1
1
1
Edited News | WHO
Repeated attacks on humanitarian warehouses put vital medical aid at risk in Ukraine - WHO
A new airstrike overnight damaged one of the main warehouses used by the UN health agency to store humanitarian medical supplies in the Kyiv region, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Friday. This is the third attack to affect a WHO-used storage in the last three months.
2
2
2
Press Conferences , Edited News | WMO
Powerful El Niño heightens extreme-weather risks through 2027, as countries brace for impact - WMO
Fuelled by extraordinarily warm waters across the tropical Pacific Ocean, the El Niño climate pattern is expected to intensify in the coming months. Forecasters are almost certain that it will persist through February next year, with unusually warm conditions expected across the globe.
1
1
1
Edited News | OCHA , IFRC , UN WOMEN , WHO
Nepal flood deaths near 1,000 as those spared struggle to survive – UN humanitarians
With the death toll in Nepal’s catastrophic flash floods inching towards 1,000, rescue workers are facing harsh conditions while survivors lack access to food, safe water and health care, humanitarians said on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OCHA , UNDRR , IFRC , WHO
Nepal: Flooding disaster “not over” as humanitarians work around the clock
While search and rescue efforts continued Friday following flash floods and mudslides in northern Nepal, UN humanitarians are taking stock of the devastation amid concerns over more flooding to come.