The World Health Organization said Monday its facilities in Gaza had come under Israeli attack, echoing calls from Western countries for an immediate ceasefire as Israel expanded military operations to the central city of Deir el-Balah.
WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the Israeli military had entered the UN agency’s staff residence, forced women and children to evacuate on foot, and handcuffed, stripped and interrogated male staff at gunpoint.
Earlier, more than two dozen Western countries called for an immediate end to the war, saying suffering there had “reached new depths”.
After more than 21 months of fighting that have triggered catastrophic humanitarian conditions for Gaza’s more than two million people, Israeli allies Britain, France, Australia, Canada and 21 other countries, plus the EU, said in a joint statement that the war “must end now”.
“The suffering of civilians in Gaza has reached new depths,” the signatories added, urging a negotiated ceasefire, the release of hostages held by Palestinian militants and the free flow of much-needed aid.
Tedros, who also condemned an attack on the WHO’s main warehouse in Deir el-Balah, echoed that call: “A ceasefire is not just necessary, it is overdue,” he said on X.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar condemned the countries’ statement, saying any international pressure should be on Hamas, while US ambassador Mike Huckabee called the joint letter “disgusting”.
Key mediator Egypt, however, endorsed the message.
The Western plea came with Deir el-Balah under intense shelling on Monday, after Israel’s military the day before had ordered residents to leave, warning of imminent action in an area where it had not previously operated.
Between 50,000 and 80,000 people were in the area when the evacuation order was issued, according to initial estimates from the UN’s humanitarian agency OCHA.
Deir el-Balah resident Abdullah Abu Saleem, 48, told AFP on Monday that “during the night, we heard huge and powerful explosions shaking the area as if it were an earthquake”.
He said this was “due to artillery shelling in the south-central part of Deir el-Balah and the southeastern area”.
“We are extremely worried and fearful that the army is planning a ground operation,” he added.
