Media office issues urgent appeal for safe passage into northern Gaza

The Gaza-based government media office has issued an urgent appeal for safe passage into besieged northern Gaza to save its collapsing health system, which has been facing "catastrophic and unprecedented" conditions since Israel launched a new military assault on 5 October.  

Israeli forces are directly targeting hospitals in northern Gaza and have threatened to cause them to collapse, the media office said. 

It added that hospitals are struggling to operate under the Israeli siege, with neonatal intensive care units hit hardest by the harsh conditions.

Fuel, medical staff, medicine, vaccinations and baby formula are among the most critical needs for hospitals in northern Gaza, the office said.

"This is an urgent appeal to help save what can be saved in the North Gaza Governorate, which is being subjected to genocide. The governorate and its hospitals are experiencing a catastrophic situation in every sense of the word."