WHO carries out second evacuation mission at Gaza's Nasser Hospital

The World Health Organization has completed a second evacuation mission from Gaza's Nasser Hospital but voiced concern for nearly 150 patients and medics who remain at the site amid continuing fighting.

"WHO fears for the safety and well-being of the patients and health workers remaining in the hospital and warns that further disruption to lifesaving care for the sick and injured would lead to more deaths," the WHO said on the social media site X on Tuesday, saying those remaining included 130 patients and 15 medics.

The Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, Gaza's second-largest, stopped working last week after a week-long Israeli siege followed by a raid, the UN agency said.

WHO staff and other aid groups have so far evacuated a total of 32 critical patients including injured children and those with paralysis, but the agency is concerned for those left behind with supplies dwindling.

Israel claims the Palestinian resistance group Hamas uses hospitals for cover. Hamas denies this and says Israel's allegations serve as a pretext to destroy the healthcare system.

'Heartbreaking'

The WHO's Tarik Jasarevic told reporters in Geneva that WHO staff who were part of the rescue mission had to navigate through pitch-black corridors with flashlights to find patients against a backdrop of gunfire.

Help had to arrive on foot because a deep, muddy ditch near the site made the road impassable, the WHO said.

"It's very difficult to see these scenes of people just being cut off," he said, saying food supplies were limited. "It's heartbreaking to see that there are people in health facilities who are not able to be treated correctly," he said.

Efforts to transfer the remaining patients are continuing, WHO said. The site has no electricity or running water and medical waste and garbage are "creating a breeding ground for disease", it added.

Palestinian health authorities said the situation had reached a "catastrophic level" and that Israeli forces had effectively converted the site into a "military barracks".

At least eight patients have already died at the facility, mostly due to fuel shortages and oxygen shortages, Palestinian health authorities have said.

They described the situation on Tuesday as "catastrophic" and said the lives of those remaining there are directly threatened.

Israel has launched a deadly offensive on Gaza following an attack by Hamas on October 7. The ensuing Israeli bombardment has killed nearly 29,195 and injured about 69,170 with mass destruction and shortages of necessities.

The Israeli war on Gaza has pushed 85 percent of the territory's population into internal displacement amid acute shortages of food, clean water and medicine, while 60 percent of the enclave's infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.