The head of the World Health Organization (WHO) has said that the forced evacuation of hospitals in the Gaza Strip would put the lives of hundreds of patients at risk, AFP reports.

“Twenty-three hospitals have been ordered to evacuate in Gaza City and north Gaza, and forced evacuation in these circumstances would put the lives of hundreds of patients in a life-threatening situation,” WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said.

At a press conference in Geneva, Tedros also reiterated the call for a humanitarian pause in the Israel-Hamas war to help the thousands injured, as well as the chronically sick.

“We’re running out of words to describe the horror unfolding in Gaza,” said Tedros.

The situation in Gaza was “indescribable”, Tedros added, with hospitals crammed, morgues overflowing, and doctors performing surgery without anesthesia, as families sought shelter and toilets overflowed, risking the spread of disease.

Emergencies director Dr Mike Ryan said the UN agency was struggling to help as it could not guarantee the safety of staff.

“We have never found it as difficult to establish the basic rules of engagement that would allow us to act in a proper humanitarian fashion,” he said.

He said any international staff or field hospitals entering Gaza would need safety guarantees, and to run alongside the existing system to be effective. “We will not be instrumentalized in this. We will not become a party to this… Our job is to save lives. That is our only job,” he said.