The largest hospital in Gaza has ceased to function and fatalities among patients are rising, the head of the World Health Organisation (WHO) has said, as a blistering Israeli assault continues in the besieged strip.

The WHO managed to speak to health professionals at Shifa, who described a “dire and perilous” situation with constant gunfire and bombing exacerbating the already critical circumstances, Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said.

“Tragically, the number of patient fatalities has increased significantly,” he said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, adding that Shifa was “not functioning as a hospital anymore.”

“The world cannot stand silent while hospitals, which should be safe havens, are transformed into scenes of death, devastation, and despair,” he said.