The Nasser medical centre in Khan Younis, Gaza, was attacked during heavy Israeli shelling in February.
The UN humanitarian agency today warned again that the heaviest fighting to date has been reported in Gaza, and that famine remains an imminent threat due to aid constraints and lack of safe access.
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East says the war has been going on for more than seven months, and more than 150,000 pregnant and lactating women continue to face poor sanitation conditions and health hazards, while newborns are generally underweight.
The World Food Programme, a United Nations agency, said parents face huge challenges in keeping their children safe and feeding. Sometimes they have to go hungry and leave what little food they have for their children.
Child malnutrition is worsening "at a record rate", with one in three children under the age of two facing severe malnutrition or wasting, WFP said.
The United Nations and its partners have the capacity to expand assistance to all 2.2 million people in Gaza, but only if a humanitarian ceasefire is achieved.
Fierce conflict
At the same time, Israeli forces and Palestinian fighters reportedly engaged in gun battles in both Jabaliya in the north and Rafah in the south.
As many as 600,000 Gazans have fled Rafah since 6 May. Another 100,000 people fled northern Gaza under the Israeli military's new evacuation order.
UNRWA said there was no safe haven in Gaza and people had fled wherever they could, including rubble piles and sand dunes. Images on social media showed rows of vehicles, some loaded with all their belongings, heading toward the coast.
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said relief teams are still working to provide life-saving assistance "anytime, anywhere", although the main border crossing in Rafah remains closed and there is no "safe passage" at the nearby Keremshalom crossing, which is also "not feasible" in terms of logistical arrangements.
Nasser Hospital will reopen
The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has reported the rare good news that the Nasser medical centre in southern Khan Younis is expected to officially reopen in the coming days.
The hospital, once one of the largest in Gaza, was attacked in heavy Israeli shelling in February. After weeks of fighting and a siege, Israeli forces took control of the hospital for a time.
With the cessation of services at Rafa Nagar Hospital, patients who had been treated for kidney dialysis at the hospital had been referred to Nasser Hospital last year for further treatment, OCHA said.
Aid convoys were targeted
The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said that even outside the Gaza border, aid teams faced significant obstacles. On Tuesday, a convoy carrying aid to Gaza was attacked by Israeli settlers in the West Bank. Some settlers unloaded and destroyed goods near the Tarqumiya checkpoint and the wall in Beit 'Awwa. Several trucks were damaged.
Unconfirmed media reports indicate that protesters, who have been calling for the release of Israeli hostages, stopped trucks from Jordan and stomped on boxes containing relief items.
