GENEVA, Oct 10, 2023 (BSS/AFP) - The World Health Organization called Tuesday for a humanitarian corridor to be established into and out of the Gaza Strip, which has been placed under total siege by Israel.

Israel has cut off the water supply, food, electricity and other essential supplies as it bombed targets in the crowded Palestinian enclave in response to the Hamas surprise assault it has likened to the 9/11 attacks. 

The WHO said its supplies in the Gaza Strip were already running out, as it said patients in the territory's hospitals desperately needed those supplies.

Health facilities must be protected and safeguarded, the UN health agency said.

"WHO is calling for an end to the violence... a humanitarian corridor is needed to reach people with critical medical supplies," WHO spokesman Tarik Jasarevic told a press briefing in Geneva.

"We need supplies to come in: hospitals cannot run without fuel, without electricity.

"The supplies that we have pre-positioned are already running low so we need those supplies to come.