Situation in Gaza 'spiralling out of control': WHO chief

Hundreds of people were killed in an air strike on Gazan hospital Tuesday night.

People gather outside the Israeli consulate during a protest to show solidarity with Palestinians, in Istanbul, Turkey, Tuesday, Oct. 17, 2023. (AP)

GENEVA: The situation in the Gaza Strip is spiralling out of control, the head of the UN health agency warned on Wednesday, following a blast at a hospital that killed hundreds of people.

"The situation in #Gaza is spiralling out of control," the head of the World Health Organization (WHO) Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on X, formerly Twitter. "We need violence on all sides to stop."

"Every second we wait to get medical aid in, we lose lives," he added. "We need immediate access to start delivering life-saving supplies."

The situation in #Gaza is spiralling out of control.

Every second we wait to get medical aid in, we lose lives.

For 4 days @WHO supplies have been stuck at the border.

We need immediate access to start delivering life-saving supplies.

We need violence on all sides to stop.

— Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (@DrTedros) October 18, 2023

A blast ripped through a Gaza hospital killing hundreds of people late Tuesday.

Health authorities in Hamas-run Gaza said the explosion at the Ahli Arab Hospital killed between 200-300 people and was caused by the latest in a wave of Israeli airstrikes. Hamas said in a statement 500 had died.

Israeli Defense Forces blamed Palestinian militants, saying an outgoing Islamic Jihad rocket misfired.

Neither account could be independently corroborated.