Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the head of the World Health Organization has hailed Gaza’s medical workers who continue to work under increasingly dire circumstances in the enclave.

He noted that the health system in Gaza is being destroyed, but medical professionals continue to bravely carry out their duties.

“The decimation of the Gaza health system is a tragedy,” he posted on X, adding, “We persist in calling for #CeasefireNow.”

The UN health agency has long been sounding the alarm about the state of healthcare since the bloodiest-ever war in Gaza erupted in October.

“In the face of constant insecurity and inflows of wounded patients, we see doctors, nurses, ambulance drivers and more continue striving to save lives,” Tedros said.

The Health Ministry in Gaza announced that at least 20,424 people have been killed by Israeli attacks in the besieged enclave since October 7. At least 54,036 people have been injured.

The toll included 166 deaths in the past 24 hours, it said.

Of Gaza’s original 36 hospitals, only nine are now partially functional, all of them in the south and all overwhelmed. Hospitals, protected under international humanitarian law, have repeatedly been hit by Israeli strikes since the war erupted.

WHO staff described “unbearable” scenes of largely abandoned patients, including young children, begging for food and water after missions last week to two badly damaged hospitals in the north, al-Shifa and al-Ahli.

As of December 20, WHO registered 246 attacks on healthcare infrastructure in Gaza, including hospitals and ambulances, resulting in 582 deaths and 748 injuries.

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) has announced that 142 employees in Gaza have been killed since the start of Israel’s offensive on October 7.

Most of those employees were killed along with their families, the UN refugee agency said.

Officials in other UN agencies have also lost their lives. For instance, a UN official was killed along with more than 70 members of his extended family in an Israeli air strike near Gaza City on Friday, December 22, 2023.

Issam Al Mughrabi, 56, who worked for the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) for three decades was killed along with his wife and children in an Israeli air strike on Friday.

At least 103 journalists have been killed by Israeli attacks since October 7, the Government Media Office in Gaza said in a post on Telegram.

Humanitarian ceasefire, the only way forward

UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi asserted that the only way to ensure aid reaches people in Gaza, secure the release of captives held by Hamas, and prevent further displacement is through a “humanitarian ceasefire.”

“War defies logic and humanity and prepares a future of more hatred, less peace,” he posted on X.

The remarks come days after the UN Security Council passed a resolution calling for the scaling up of aid for Gaza, but fell short of calling for a ceasefire or a pause in weeks-long fighting.

Meanwhile, the Israeli army indicated that its forces were close to having operational control in northern Gaza, after weeks of intense fighting.

Now, “we focus our efforts against Hamas in southern Gaza”, military spokesman Jonathan Conricus said.

Hamas disclosed that new strikes had hit Jabalia and Khan Younis.

The Israeli army said it had attacked about 200 targets in Gaza over the past day and nine more soldiers were killed, bringing to 152 its overall death toll in the territory since the ground assault began.