The World Health Organization (WHO) says hospital patients in Gaza are being given an "impossible choice" under Israel's evacuation order to either die in the hospital, or die on the road, as international agencies continue to demand Israel lift their total siege of the Palestinian enclave. 

Reaffirming the WHO's position that patients in Gaza's northern hospitals were now facing a "death sentence," spokesperson Margaret Harris explained to CGTN Europe why the organization had made such a stark comparison.

"It's very clear that many of the patients – there are more than 2,000 patients in those hospitals – are so sick; they are on life support systems, they have severe injuries, there are babies in incubators who simply can't be moved safely and certainly not under these conditions," she said. 

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Essentially, the healthcare workers had been made to choose in an impossible situation: "Either they stay – and they've been told to get out, that hospitals will not be safe – so they know they won't be safe, they're putting their own lives at risk. 

"If they leave their patients, their patients will die," said Harris. "If they take their patients, their patients will die. So you've given them an impossible choice." She added that no matter what, hospitals and healthcare facilities must never be attacked: "It is a violation of humanitarian law."

As for getting essential medical equipment into Gaza, the WHO representative confirmed that such items were still not being allowed through any Israeli checkpoints into Gaza. The Egyptian border is also closed, allegedly due to safety concerns. 

"We're standing by with a large contingent of supplies that were flown in from our Dubai hub," Harris said. "And we've got that waiting just 20 kilometers from the border, ready to go in as soon as we can." 

As for southern Gaza, where hundreds of thousands have fled in the last week ahead of Israel's planned land attack, the medical situation remains dire according to Harris: "We're hearing that the hospitals down there are again overwhelmed trying to treat all the patients they have. There are also large numbers of people who've got nowhere else to go so they're just sheltering in the environs of the hospitals. It really is catastrophic."

The WHO is just one of many international agencies pleading with Israel to allow aid into the Gaza Strip and to lift the siege, as electricity, fuel, water, and food all rapidly run out – all amid the worst Israeli bombing Gaza has ever experienced. 

As for U.S. influence in the region, Secretary of State Antony Blinken has been in Saudi Arabia, Egypt and is now set to visit Israel again, seemingly to discuss ways to reduce the impact on civilians in Gaza.

Reacting to the U.S.-bilateral wrangling, Harris said the WHO had been calling for an end to hostilities "since day one" – as well as proper humanitarian access to the enclave and the ability to get vital medical care to those who desperately need it. "You've got somebody in terrible pain who's had their limbs blown off and you can't even treat the pain," she said. 

"So, yes, we hope – and certainly a lot of work is being done at all levels of the UN system – to really beg that love of humanity overcomes this terrible anger and hatred that's leading to terrible deaths and atrocities on all sides."

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