WHO accuses Israel of blocking urgent ambulance convoys

The World Health Organisation (WHO) on Friday accused Israel of obstructing ambulances tasked with evacuating seriously ill patients out of especially hazardous parts of Gaza.

Rik Peeperkorn, WHO representative for the occupied territories, said that the WHO and partners such as the Red Crescent on three occasions tried to reach three hospitals in the north of the Gaza Strip with ambulance convoys.

At the request of the local health authorities, people were to be transferred to other locations because Israeli authorities had ordered them to leave the area with the hospitals.

The convoys were held up for hours at checkpoints, said Peeperkorn. They had to turn back without having achieved anything.

"We are very worried about the safety of the patients," he said.

The evacuation calls were particularly problematic for families of people with disabilities, said a spokeswoman for the UN Human Rights Office.

She condemned repeated attacks on hospitals and school buildings where people whose homes had been destroyed in Israeli attacks had sought refuge. According to Israel, terrorists from the Palestinian Islamist organization Hamas use the facilities as command centres.