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STORY: UN / WHO OPT PRESSER
TRT: 04:06
SOURCE: UNIFEED
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGES: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 12 DECEMBER 2025, NEW YORK CITY / FILE
FILE - NEW YORK CITY
1. Wide shot, UN headquarters
12 DECEMBER 2025, NEW YORK CITY
2. Wide shot, press briefing room
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Rik Peeperkorn, WHO Representative in the Occupied Palestinian Territory:
“When it comes to health care availability, this week I visited Nasser Medical Complex and the Rehabilitation Hospital for the Palestinian Red Crescent Society in Khan Younis. Al-Shifa Hospital, Al-Rantisi Hospital, Al-Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza City. And also a site for a primary health care center in Beit Lahia this morning, north of Gaza. So overall, little improvement on the services, 50% of hospitals, 18 out of 36, and 43% for primary health care centers, 84 from the 195, are partly functional.”
4. Wide shot, press briefing room
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Rik Peeperkorn, WHO Representative in the Occupied Palestinian Territory:
“The Indonesian Hospital and Al-Awda Hospital in Jabalia, they are currently beyond what you call the ceasefire line, so-called yellow line. Kamal Adwan Hospital is supposed to be within the coordination zone, is a little bit almost on this yellow line. WHO, we actually have tried several missions to reach Kamal Adwan to set up a primary health care facility with our partners. It has been, unfortunately, until now, denied.”
6. Wide shot, press briefing room
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Rik Peeperkorn, WHO Representative in the Occupied Palestinian Territory:
“When we talk about Gaza City, and despite the immense challenges, Shifa Hospital is working again as a partially functional tertiary care hospital. Ten operation theaters are functional, and outpatient departments are partially functional. The hospital is thrilled that they need and want to expand to 700 beds.”
8. Wide shot, press briefing room
9. SOUNDBITE (English) Rik Peeperkorn, WHO Representative in the Occupied Palestinian Territory:
“What is heartening to see in all of the hospitals we went to, the facility, that you see the rehabilitation work going on, and it’s an immense resilience because it is all powered by this local ingenuity and repurposing of materials from damaged and destroyed buildings. You see people constantly coming in and bringing material from destroyed and damaged buildings. It’s a huge struggle for them, and by now one would expect that building materials, cement, etc. would have entered Gaza. It’s very, very expensive to get any or make use of any local materials available, but it’s happening, and I would say that is good news.”
10. Wide shot, press briefing room
11. SOUNDBITE (English) Rik Peeperkorn, WHO Representative in the Occupied Palestinian Territory:
“Everywhere we went, in all these hospitals, whether they are run by a medical director or medical specialist or other support staff, they all raised the same thing. They said, we expect now there is a ceasefire that shortages of essential medicines, medical supplies, and also spare parts for imaging medical equipment, they will see a flow of these, and unfortunately, not yet. Approximately 50 percent of the 650 essential medicines are close to zero stock or have less than three months’ supply.”
12. Wide shot, press briefing room
13. SOUNDBITE (English) Rik Peeperkorn, WHO Representative in the Occupied Palestinian Territory:
“The rainy winter clearly has set in, making people even more vulnerable. You see these thousands and thousands of makeshift tents amidst this rain and wind. The shelter conditions are still deplorable. Way more shelter material and tents need to get in.”
14. Wide shot, press briefing room
“Overall, little improvement on the services,” said the World Health Organization’s representative in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, warning that only half of Gaza’s hospitals are even partly functional. Speaking to reporters via video link from Gaza, Rik Peeperkorn said damage, access restrictions and shortages continue to cripple the health system despite limited signs of recovery.
Briefing the UN press corps in New York today (12 Dec), Peeperkorn said he had visited several key facilities in recent days, including Nasser Medical Complex and the Palestinian Red Crescent Society’s Rehabilitation Hospital in Khan Younis, as well as Al-Shifa, Al-Rantisi and Al-Ahli Arab hospitals in Gaza City, and a primary health care site in Beit Lahia in the north. “So overall, little improvement on the services,” he said, noting that “50% of hospitals, 18 out of 36, and 43% for primary health care centers, 84 from the 195, are partly functional.”
He said access constraints remain a major obstacle. The Indonesian Hospital and Al-Awda Hospital in Jabalia are “currently beyond what you call the ceasefire line, so-called yellow line,” he said, while Kamal Adwan Hospital sits “a little bit almost on this yellow line.” Peeperkorn added that WHO missions to reach Kamal Adwan to establish a primary health care facility “have been, unfortunately, until now, denied.”
Despite the challenges, he pointed to limited progress in Gaza City, where Al-Shifa Hospital has resumed some services. “Shifa Hospital is working again as a partially functional tertiary care hospital,” he said. “Ten operation theaters are functional, and outpatient departments are partially functional.” He added that the hospital hopes to expand capacity, saying it “need and want to expand to 700 beds.”
Peeperkorn said visits to multiple facilities highlighted both hardship and resilience. “What is heartening to see in all of the hospitals we went to,” he said, “is the rehabilitation work going on.” He described “an immense resilience” driven by “local ingenuity and repurposing of materials from damaged and destroyed buildings,” even as he stressed that building materials remain scarce and costly. “By now one would expect that building materials, cement, etc. would have entered Gaza,” he said, adding that while conditions are extremely difficult, “it’s happening, and I would say that is good news.”
At the same time, shortages of medicines and equipment persist. Peeperkorn said hospital staff consistently told WHO they had expected improvements following the ceasefire. “They said, we expect now there is a ceasefire that shortages of essential medicines, medical supplies, and also spare parts for imaging medical equipment, they will see a flow of these, and unfortunately, not yet,” he said. He warned that “approximately 50 percent of the 650 essential medicines are close to zero stock or have less than three months’ supply.”
He also highlighted worsening living conditions as winter rains intensify. “The rainy winter clearly has set in, making people even more vulnerable,” Peeperkorn said, describing “thousands and thousands of makeshift tents amidst this rain and wind.” He said shelter conditions remain “deplorable” and stressed that “way more shelter material and tents need to get in.”
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