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WHO in occupied Palestinian territory
Statement on WHO's role in medical evacuation from Gaza via the Rafah crossing to Egypt
Jerusalem, 10 April 2026 Under difficult circumstances, WHO continues to work for the health of the people in the occupied Palestinian territory, including supporting the Ministry of Health (MoH) with medical evacuations. These may resume on 12 April, after WHO had to suspend its support to medical evacuations, following a security incident in...
First Response, Last Resort: Strengthening Emergency Response in Restricted Communities
Across the West Bank, increasing movement restrictions, including checkpoint and road closures, as well as other physical and administrative obstacles, are making it harder for communities to access health care and for health workers to reach patients. Health partners report that ambulances are frequently delayed, forced to take longer routes or...
Braving conflict to protect children from polio in Gaza: women at the frontline of the response
8 March 2026 – In July 2024, amid ongoing conflict and widespread displacement in the Gaza Strip, variant poliovirus – with links to poliovirus found in Egypt – was detected in wastewater in Khan Younis and Deir al Balah for the first time in more than 25 years. Poliovirus was then confirmed in a 10-month-old child in Gaza who had never received any...
Gaza patients bear the brunt of two years of conflict
Five-month-old Qusai was born in the Gaza Strip during the recent conflict, and from his first days of life, his health was fragile. “I knew something was wrong almost immediately,” his mother, Ayesha*, says. “Every breath felt heavy. I watched his chest rise and fall and wondered how such a tiny body could be carrying so much.” Just one week...
UNICEF and WHO Joint Statement: Second Round of Routine Immunization Catch-up Campaign Begins in the Gaza Strip
16 January 2026, Jerusalem, the second round of a routine immunization catch-up campaign in the Gaza Strip, led by UNICEF, UNRWA, WHO and partners in collaboration with the Ministry of Health, is taking place from 18 to 29 January 2026. This round aims to reach children under the age of three, strengthening protection against vaccine-preventable...
UN agencies welcome news that famine has been pushed back in the Gaza Strip, but warn fragile gains could be reversed without increased and sustained support
FAO, UNICEF, WFP and WHO say hunger, malnutrition, disease and the scale of agricultural destruction remain alarmingly high 19 December 2025 Rome, Geneva, New York - The latest Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) analysis for Gaza confirms that no areas of the Strip are currently classified in famine following the October...
WHO and Germany Sign EUR 14 Million Top-Up Agreement to Support Health Response in the occupied Palestinian territory
16 December 2025 - The World Health Organization (WHO) and the German Federal Foreign Office have signed a top-up funding agreement worth EUR 14 million to support priority health interventions in the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt). The agreement reinforces Germany’s continued partnership with WHO in responding to urgent health needs in...
WHO and KOICA Support Expansion of Mental Health Services at Bethlehem Psychiatric Hospital
Photo credit: WHO4 December 2025, Ramallah — A newly renovated acute male ward was inaugurated today at Bethlehem Psychiatric Hospital, expanding access to essential mental health care for Palestinians in need of urgent and specialized support. The upgrade to the facility was made possible through support from the World Health Organization (WHO)...
UNICEF and WHO Joint Statement Round one of the Gaza Strip catch-up immunization campaign reaches more than 13,700 children
20 November 2025, THE GAZA STRIP – The first round of the catch-up immunization campaign in the Gaza Strip concluded today, marking an important milestone in efforts to safeguard children’s health after two years of conflict and as winter weather intensifies. Between 9–20 November, more than 13,700 children were vaccinated during a campaign led by...
Joint Press Release: Catch-up Immunization Campaign Launched in the Gaza Strip
5 November 2025, GAZA STRIP – UNICEF, UNRWA, WHO and partners, in collaboration with the Ministry of Health, are launching an integrated catch-up campaign for routine immunization, nutrition, and growth monitoring in the Gaza Strip to reach 44,000 children cut off from essential life-saving services by two years of conflict. The campaign will be...
