Gaza health centers 'constantly under attack' by Israel: UNRWA chief

‘Basic medical & health supplies are running out,’ says Philippe Lazzarini

The head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) said Monday that all health centers in Gaza are under constant attacks amid a deadly Israeli onslaught on the territory. In a statement marking World Health Day, UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini said that health workers are killed and injured in Gaza. “Health centres are constantly under attack. Basic medical & health supplies are running out,” he said. “Medical staff are exhausted after having tirelessly dedicated their lives to the community & the wounded. They constantly have to make tough decisions about which lives to save." “Two million people are scarred for life with trauma & shock, battling with the invisible wounds of mental health,” the UNRWA chief said. The Israeli army renewed a deadly assault on Gaza on March 18 and has since killed nearly 1,400 people, injured over 3,400 others, and shattered a January ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement in the enclave. Last week, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to escalate attacks on Gaza amid efforts to implement US President Donald Trump's plan to displace Palestinians from the enclave. More than 50,700 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza in a brutal Israeli onslaught since October 2023, most of them women and children. The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants last November for Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza. Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.