UNICEF, WHO, and ICRC Have Lost Contact with All Their Staff in Gaza

The Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, has announced that the organization has completely lost contact with its personnel, medical facilities, and partners conducting humanitarian operations in Gaza.

“We have lost contact with our staff in Gaza, medical facilities, and healthcare workers,” he stated on his social media.

In addition to WHO, the organization "Doctors Without Borders" has reported a loss of communication as well. “We are deeply concerned about the situation in Gaza; we have lost contact with some of our Palestinian partners on the ground,” the organization mentioned on social media.

The Executive Director of UNICEF, Catherine Russell, also stated on X social media that her organization is unable to establish contact with partners in Gaza.

The Palestinian branch of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has also lost contact with all its representatives and partners in the Gaza Strip. The ICRC’s Palestinian unit also reported that “Israeli authorities have cut off fixed, mobile, and internet communications, which has had a serious impact on essential services, including emergency medical services.”

Earlier, the Al Arabiya television channel reported that communication and internet services have ceased to operate in the Gaza Strip.

On October 7, Israel was subjected to an unprecedented scale of rocket attacks from Gaza as part of the operation “Al-Aqsa Flood,” declared by the military wing of the Palestinian Hamas movement. Subsequently, the organization’s militants entered southern Israeli border areas, where they opened fire on both military personnel and civilians and took hostages. According to local authorities in Israel, more than 1,400 people have died, including 300 military personnel, while more than 5,000 have been injured.