Evacuation at risk: WHO complains about missing US millions for aid operations in Gaza

The temporary suspension of US aid is also affecting the work of the WHO in the Gaza Strip. The reconstruction of clinics has progressed since the ceasefire and seriously ill patients can be transferred. But it needs to happen more quickly, says the WHO. There is not enough money.

The freezing of American aid funds means that the World Health Organization (WHO) in the Gaza Strip is missing 46 million dollars (44 million euros). The money was intended, among other things, for the evacuation of seriously ill children or the reconstruction of badly damaged hospitals, said Rik Peeperkorn, WHO coordinator for the Israeli-occupied territories.

He spoke to reporters in Geneva via video link from Gaza. Six areas are underfunded, but operations can still be financed with money from other donors. The WHO hopes, however, that the money will be released again.

The new polio vaccination campaign is going well, said Peeperkorn. In the past few days, 92 percent of the 591,000 children under the age of ten who are to be vaccinated have been reached. The campaign was necessary because polio viruses were still found in the wastewater after two rounds of vaccinations last autumn. Around 7,000 children could not be reached at the time because of the war situation.

According to Peeperkorn, 889 seriously ill patients have been brought out of the Gaza Strip since February 1, including 335 children. But thousands more are waiting for help that they cannot get there. He appealed to Israel to allow transfers to hospitals in East Jerusalem or the occupied West Bank, as was the case before the war.

Meanwhile, the Palestinian Red Cross has opened a 54-bed field hospital in Gaza City. The first patients arrived in the early hours of the morning, the Federation of Red Cross Societies (IFCR) in Geneva said. Newborns can be cared for there and it has an intensive care unit and two operating rooms.

The United States is by far the largest donor of humanitarian aid and development cooperation, providing an estimated $64 billion, or 42 percent of all international aid worldwide, in 2024. Shortly after taking office, US President Donald Trump ordered a temporary suspension of US aid for 90 days by decree. The US Agency for International Development (USAID) froze payments in early February.