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STORY: UN / GAZA WHO PRESSER
TRT: 03:49
SOURCE: UNIFEED
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 02 OCTOBER 2025, NEW YORK CITY / FILE
FILE - NEW YORK CITY
1. Aerial shot, exterior UN Headquarters
02 OCTOBER 2025, NEW YORK CITY
2. Wide shot, press room dais, Dr. Rik Peeperkorn on screen
3. Wide shot, journalists
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Rik Peeperkorn, Representative in Occupied Palestinian Territories, World Health Organization (WHO):
“Nearly 42,000 people in the Gaza Strip have life-changing injuries caused by the ongoing conflict, according to the WHO estimates released today in the report, estimating trauma rehabilitation needs in Gaza. So, that actually you talk about one in four of these injuries, by the way, one in four of those injuries are in children.”
5. Wide shot, press room dais, Peeperkorn on screen
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Rik Peeperkorn, Representative in Occupied Palestinian Territories, World Health Organization (WHO):
“As new injuries mount and health needs rise, the health system teeters on the brink of collapse. Currently, less than 14, I think is probably 12 or 13 of Gaza 36 hospitals remain partially functional, while less than a one third of the pre-conflict rehabilitation services are operating, with several facing imminent closure. We'll come back to that later. None are fully functional despite the efforts of WHO, the emergency medical teams and other health partners. Gaza once had around 1,300 physiotherapists at 4,000 occupational therapists. Many have been displaced. At least 42 have been killed, from as of September 2024.”
7. Wide shot, journalists
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Rik Peeperkorn, Representative in Occupied Palestinian Territories, World Health Organization (WHO):
“So, with the increase in violence, particularly, as the incursion in Gaza City intensifies, medical evacuations remain a flagship WHO program. Just last Monday, we actually medevac’d 180 patients and companions. Gaza’s health system is unable to provide specialist care or services beyond the most basic emergency treatment. 15,600 people, including 3008 children, need to be medevac’d.”
9. Wide shot, press room dais, Peeperkorn on screen
10. SOUNDBITE (English) Rik Peeperkorn, Representative in Occupied Palestinian Territories, World Health Organization (WHO):
“We need more, many more countries to accept patients. Second, equally important, maybe even more important, is the restoration of the West Bank and East Jerusalem medical referral pathway.”
11. Wide shot, press room dais, Peeperkorn on screen
12. SOUNDBITE (English) Rik Peeperkorn, Representative in Occupied Palestinian Territories, World Health Organization (WHO):
“What I've witnessed in Gaza, I've never witnessed before. The health system in Gaza, I mean, people always say, oh, the health system was actually very poor. No, it was not that poor. I don't say it was great, I mean, in areas, some areas non-communicable diseases, oncology, for example, they very much struggled, they needed to be referred. Before the crisis in between 50 to 100 patients were referred daily to East Jerusalem hospitals and the West Bank. But overall systems were working much better than you would actually imagine. The health indicators in Gaza, West Bank, were actually better than a lot of the neighbouring countries. You’ve seen the health system disintegrating incredibly rapidly. And I'm still actually surprised that with a partly or minimally working health system, how much is done.”
13. Wide shot, press room dais, Peeperkorn on screen
14. SOUNDBITE (English) Rik Peeperkorn, Representative in Occupied Palestinian Territories, World Health Organization (WHO):
“If you talk to the physicians and medical specialists in hospitals, and I've seen so many patients, I mean, severe trauma patients. They've said even the simple trauma; their wounds didn't recover that quickly because almost all of them had a level of malnutrition.”
15. Wide shot, end of briefing
The World Health Organization’s (WHO) Representative in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, Rik Peeperkorn today (2 Oct) called on “many more countries” to accept medically evacuated patients from Gaza, as well as “the restoration of the West Bank and East Jerusalem medical referral pathway.”
Discussing the data from the WHO’s new injuries and rehabilitation trends in Gaza report, Peeperkorn said, “nearly 42,000 people in the Gaza Strip have life-changing injuries caused by the ongoing conflict.”
According to the report, released today, “one in four of those injuries are in children.”
Peeperkorn, briefing reporters in New York from Deir al-Balah, in the Gaza strip, said “as new injuries mount and health needs rise, the health system teeters on the brink of collapse.”
He said, “probably 12 or 13 of Gaza 36 hospitals remain partially functional,” and “none are fully functional despite the efforts of WHO, the emergency medical teams and other health partners.”
Peeperkorn noted that Gaza “once had around 1,300 physiotherapists at 4,000 occupational therapists,” but many have been displaced, and “at least 42 have been killed.
As the Israeli incursion into Gaza City intensifies, he said, WHO evacuated 180 patients and companions, and added that “Gaza’s health system is unable to provide specialist care or services beyond the most basic emergency treatment,” and “15,600 people, including 3,008 children, need to be medevac’d.”
Peeperkorn who has worked in many health emergencies and conflict zones in a career spanning over 20 years, said, “what I've witnessed in Gaza, I've never witnessed before.”
He said, “you’ve seen the health system disintegrating incredibly rapidly. And I'm still actually surprised that with a partly or minimally working health system, how much is done.”
Asked about malnutrition, the WHO official said, “if you talk to the physicians and medical specialists in hospitals, and I've seen so many patients, I mean, severe trauma patients. They've said even the simple trauma; their wounds didn't recover that quickly because almost all of them had a level of malnutrition.”
According to the report, life-changing injuries account for one quarter of all reported injuries of a total of 167,376 people injured since October 2023. Over 5,000 people have faced amputation. Based on a larger pool of data, the findings are consistent with WHO’s previous analysis.
Other severe injuries, including to arms and legs (over 22,000), to the spinal cord (over 2,000), to the brain (over 1,300), and major burns (more than 3,300) are also widespread, further increasing the need for specialized surgical and rehabilitation services and deeply affecting patients and their families across Gaza.
The report also highlights the prevalence of complex facial and eye injuries, especially amongst patients listed for medical evacuation outside Gaza, conditions often leading to disfigurement, disability, and social stigma.
The updated analysis draws on data from 22 WHO-supported Emergency Medical Teams (EMTs), Gaza’s Ministry of Health, and key health partners, providing a more comprehensive picture of rehabilitation needs as a result of severe trauma injuries.
