The head of the World Health Organisation, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, has warned that the move by some Western countries to halt funding to the UN agency for Palestinians will have “catastrophic consequences”.

“Decisions by various countries to pause funds for UNRWA, the largest supplier of humanitarian aid in this crisis, will have catastrophic consequences for the people of Gaza,” Al Jazeera reports quoting the WHO chief.

“No other entity has the capacity to deliver the scale and breadth of assistance that 2.2 million people in Gaza urgently need. We appeal for these announcements to be reconsidered.”