WHO Report: Emergency Medical Teams (EMTs) in the Gaza Strip (March – May 2025)

11 June 2025

The ongoing escalation of hostilities in the Gaza Strip has placed immense strain on the health care system, leading to a severe shortage of critical medical services. The blockade of more than 80 days, started from 2 March 2025, on the entry of all goods, including medical supplies, has further disrupted health service delivery and put people’s health at serious risk.

Since December 2023, with support from WHO, the national and international Emergency Medical Teams (EMTs) have played a vital role in the health response, delivering high-quality care despite operating in extremely constrained and insecure environments.

Since the resumption of hostilities on 18 March 2025, EMTs have faced major challenges — including blockade on entrance of medical supplies, denial of EMT staff entry into the Gaza Strip, and serious obstacles to safe movement. After 11 weeks of full aid blockade, what has been allowed to enter into Gaza is a drop in the ocean. That trickle must become a lifeline without delay.

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Health system at breaking point:

The conflict in the Gaza Strip has reached a critical stage in its impact on public health. Attacks on health facilities have severely disrupted the delivery of medical care. Growing medical needs are going unmet due to lack of entry of medical supplies during the total aid blockade of over 80 days, a shortage of specialized local health workers, delays in patient referrals, and persistent security threats. The overall quality of care is further compromised by the lack of essential medicines, medical consumables, and equipment. During the recent ceasefire period, the World Health Organization (WHO) successfully distributed 707 pallets of medical supplies to EMT partner organizations. However, since the resumption of hostilities on 18 March 2025, only 134 pallets, from WHO stocks in Gaza, have been delivered to them.

National and international EMTs cannot meet the growing health needs unless the reliable and sufficient entry of essential medical supplies is ensured. Without this, scaling up an effective health response remains extremely difficult.

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Attacks on health care:

Since the resumption of hostilities on 18 March 2025, hospitals and other health facilities across the Gaza Strip have increasingly come under attack, severely disrupting patient care and the overall functioning of health services. Both national and international health workers, including EMT staff, have been exposed to insecurity — including reported attacks on their workplaces and accommodations.

Attacks on ambulances and paramedics have created such insecurity that pre-hospital care providers often require to be escorted by international agencies to carry out missions safely in high-risk areas. Since 18 March 2025, WHO has recorded 56 attacks on health care in the Gaza Strip.

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Administrative and access restrictions undermine the response:

Cumbersome procedures for international humanitarian personnel — including EMT staff — to access the Gaza Strip, compounded by the aforementioned security and operational risks, are having devastating consequences on the health response. Entry to the Gaza Strip is often granted at the last minute, delayed, or not approved, severely hindering efforts to coordinate and implement timely deployment plans aligned with the rapidly evolving public health needs on the ground.

Since 18 March 2025, entry to the Gaza Strip has been denied to 58 international EMT staff, while only 74 have been granted access.

The denial of entry for EMT medical professionals delays the delivery of critical specialized care and creates major barriers to life-saving interventions across all levels of health care — from primary to tertiary. These challenges are further compounded by the lack of a secure working environment for humanitarian personnel and the lack of a well-coordinated deconfliction mechanism to ensure safe movement within the Gaza Strip. Collectively, these constraints jeopardize both the continuity of medical operations and the safety of international EMT staff.