WHO Reports Ongoing Violence and Health System Collapse in Gaza After the October 2025 Ceasefire

The World Health Organization (WHO) says the October 10, 2025 ceasefire between Israel and Hamas reduced some of the fighting but did not end Gaza’s humanitarian and medical emergency. UN and WHO reporting throughout late 2025 and early 2026 describes continued casualties, attacks on healthcare facilities, shortages of essential medicines, and persistent barriers to humanitarian aid entering the territory.

Casualties recorded after the ceasefire

WHO briefings citing data from the Palestinian Ministry of Health show that violence continued after the ceasefire took effect.

• As of 31 December 2025, approximately 416 people had been killed and 1,272 injured in Gaza since the ceasefire began on 10 October 2025.
• UN briefings to the Security Council described the truce as fragile, with civilians continuing to suffer the consequences of sporadic attacks and insecurity.

These figures indicate that while the intensity of fighting dropped compared with earlier stages of the war, the ceasefire did not fully halt deadly incidents in Gaza.

Continued attacks on healthcare

WHO monitoring also shows that violence affecting healthcare facilities and workers persisted.

• 449 attacks on healthcare were reported across the occupied Palestinian territory during 2025.
• Of these, 216 occurred in Gaza, causing 112 deaths and 305 injuries.

WHO has repeatedly warned that such attacks worsen an already overwhelmed health system. In 2026 the organization condemned an assault affecting the Indonesian Hospital, noting that multiple attacks on medical facilities had occurred in the preceding weeks and resulted in deaths, injuries, and forced evacuations of patients and staff.

Hospitals operating under severe strain

Even during the ceasefire period, Gaza’s health infrastructure remained severely damaged.

WHO officials reported that:

• No hospitals in Gaza were fully functioning, with only 14 of the territory’s 36 hospitals operating at all, many only partially.
• Extensive damage to facilities across the territory left the health system struggling to restore services.

Hospitals have also faced chronic shortages of fuel, electricity, water, and medical staff. These shortages limit the ability to perform surgeries, maintain intensive care units, or provide treatment for chronic illnesses and maternal health needs.

Critical shortages of medicines and medical supplies

WHO reports highlight persistent shortages of essential medicines and equipment.

Facilities in Gaza have reported:

• severe shortages of essential medicines and medical supplies,
• disruptions to electricity and fuel supplies needed to operate hospital generators,
• limited availability of staff and equipment due to the prolonged conflict.

To help stabilize the system, WHO said it delivered about $60 million worth of essential medical supplies across the occupied Palestinian territory in 2025, though needs continued to far exceed available resources.

Restrictions on humanitarian and medical supplies

UN humanitarian reporting indicates that administrative and security restrictions on aid have slowed the flow of critical supplies into Gaza even after the ceasefire.

• Approval processes for humanitarian cargo — including items categorized by Israel as “dual‑use” goods — remained a major bottleneck during the ceasefire period.
• Aid organizations reported that many requests to bring relief materials into Gaza were rejected; one UN briefing noted over 100 requests denied within the first month after the ceasefire began.

These restrictions affected not only construction materials but also equipment needed to restore hospitals and water or sanitation systems.

Impact on humanitarian organizations

Medical and humanitarian groups say the access restrictions have limited their ability to deliver aid.

• Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) reported no major improvement in the entry of its medical humanitarian supplies into Gaza immediately after the ceasefire.
• UN agencies also warned that large quantities of humanitarian supplies remained outside Gaza even though they were ready for delivery.

Humanitarian officials say these bottlenecks have slowed efforts to rebuild healthcare services and address urgent civilian needs.

Debate at the UN Security Council

The international community has repeatedly discussed the ceasefire’s implementation at the UN Security Council.

• In Resolution 2803 (2025), the Security Council endorsed a broader plan aimed at ending the Gaza conflict and stabilizing the territory.
• UN briefers later told the Council that the ceasefire remained tenuous and incomplete, with ongoing violence and severe humanitarian needs continuing to threaten progress.

Security Council discussions have largely focused on two issues: ensuring the ceasefire holds and dramatically increasing humanitarian access to Gaza.

The overall picture from WHO reporting

WHO’s assessments consistently emphasize that the ceasefire reduced the scale of fighting but did not resolve Gaza’s health crisis. The organization reports a combination of factors sustaining the emergency:

• continued casualties after the ceasefire
• repeated attacks affecting healthcare
• damaged and partially functioning hospitals
• severe shortages of medicines, fuel, and staff
• restrictions slowing the entry of humanitarian supplies

Taken together, these conditions mean Gaza’s health system remains under extreme pressure even during periods of reduced hostilities.

For humanitarian agencies, the central challenge remains restoring basic healthcare capacity while ensuring sustained humanitarian access and protection for medical facilities and staff.