WHO decries delays getting aid into Gaza

GENEVA, Oct 3: Getting humanitarian aid through Israel into Gaza is layered with "delay after delay", the World Health Organization said late Friday, as it decried "chronic shortages" of medical supplies.

Reinhilde Van de Weerdt, the WHO's representative in the Palestinian territories, said the health situation in the Gaza Strip "remains utterly dire", with none of its hospitals fully functional.

"Not enough humanitarian aid is entering Gaza, and definitely not enough to allow for a meaningful expansion and restoration of health services," she told reporters in Geneva, speaking from Jerusalem.

She said Israel's approval system for medical and other humanitarian supplies was proving a major bottleneck.
"It is laborious, time-consuming, with no guaranteed results," she said.

Based on the WHO's latest analysis, large volumes of medical supplies wait for clearance for a median of 74 days, said Van de Weerdt, adding that if it is not, "than we start that lengthy, cumbersome process all over again".�" AFP