US funding pause leaves WHO's Gaza mission in limbo
GENEVA
A Trump administration move to suspend funding to the World Health Organization has frozen $46 million for its operations in Gaza, a top official said on Tuesday.
Dr. Rik Peeperkorn, the WHO representative for Occupied Palestinian Territories, said the freezing would leave six areas underfunded, including EMT operations, rehabilitation of health facilities, coordination with partner organizations and medical evacuations.
Speaking from Gaza to reporters a U.N. briefing in Geneva, Peeperkorn said money for such operations remained in WHO’s funding pipeline and “we’re still going full steam ahead” with activities.
Tarik Jasarevic, a WHO spokesman, said he did not have figures about how the U.S. funding cuts affected the entirety of its operations worldwide.
Citing a joint assessment by the World Bank, the European Union and the U.N., Peeperkorn said Gaza’s health sector has suffered extensive damage, with 772 health facilities either completely or partially destroyed, leading to an estimated economic loss of $1.3 billion.
Losses in healthcare functionality and workforce disruptions have amounted to $6.3 billion, further exacerbating the region’s health crisis.
The total estimated needs for the health sector recovery -- split between reconstruction costs and service delivery needs -- are projected to exceed $7 billion, he said.
The WHO also reported that since February 1,889 patients, including 335 children, have been evacuated via the Rafah crossing. Since October 2023, a total of 6,295 patients — 4,640 of them children — have been evacuated.
Peeperkorn drew attention to the tens of thousands of people needing medical evacuation.
"We need to expand the medical corridors, ... including the corridor to the East Jerusalem hospitals and the West Bank, otherwise, we will be medivacing [medical evacuating] for years to come," he urged.
The joint report estimated it will cost some $53 billion to rebuild Gaza after entire neighborhoods were decimated by Israel’s bombardment and offensives against Hamas. At the moment, there is almost no capacity or funding to start significant rebuilding.
A priority is making Gaza immediately livable. Earlier this month, Hamas threatened to hold up hostage releases unless more tents and temporary shelters were allowed into Gaza.
It then reversed and accelerated hostage releases after Israel agreed to let in mobile homes and construction equipment.
Humanitarian agencies have stepped up services, setting up free kitchens and water delivery stations, and distributing tents and tarps to hundreds of thousands across Gaza, according to the U.N.
