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WHO halts Gaza medical evacuations after staff member killed in Israeli convoy strike

07.04.2026 17:30
The World Health Organization suspended medical evacuations from Gaza after one of its workers was killed and others were wounded when a convoy came under Israeli fire in Khan Younis.
FILE PHOTO: Mourners carry the body of Palestinian Abdulrahman Al-Khudari, who was killed in an Israeli strike on Sunday, according to medics, during his funeral in Gaza City, April 6, 2026.
FILE PHOTO: Mourners carry the body of Palestinian Abdulrahman Al-Khudari, who was killed in an Israeli strike on Sunday, according to medics, during his funeral in Gaza City, April 6, 2026. REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas

The worker killed was Majdi Aslan, a 54-year-old driver employed by WHO. He was shot in the head when the Israeli army opened fire on people and vehicles on one of Khan Younis’s main streets, including a WHO vehicle carrying civilians.

WHO staff were traveling in the next vehicle, and two of them, including a doctor, were also wounded.

In response, the head of WHO said medical evacuations from Gaza were suspended “until further notice”.

Medical evacuations through the Rafah border crossing have been taking place, intermittently and on a very limited basis, since Feb. 4, with WHO overseeing coordination between Israel and Egypt.

More than 20,000 Palestinian patients are waiting to leave Gaza for urgent treatment abroad, including about 4,500 children and around 4,000 cancer patients.

The situation in Gaza remained unstable. Since Sunday, eight Palestinians have been killed in Israeli airstrikes in areas outside Israeli control, and more than 700 Gaza residents have been killed by the Israeli army since the ceasefire came into effect in October last year.

(jh)

Source: Polish Radio