The Dangers of Decomposing Bodies in the Gaza Strip: Expert Analysis and Global Concerns

2023-12-11 16:29:32

While thousands of bodies are still buried under the rubble of demolished buildings in the northern Gaza Strip following the Israeli attacks on the Strip and the destruction of its buildings and infrastructure, fears of the spread of epidemics and environmental and health disasters began to haunt those who remained alive in the northern Gaza Strip, or those in its center and south due to the transmission of epidemics in particular. With no medical teams to bury the bodies or contain them in hospital refrigerators.

Medically, the odors emanating from corpses, due to humidity and rainfall, can cause infectious and epidemic diseases, most notably cholera, according to what more than one medical source in Lebanon confirmed to Sky News Arabia.

Nearly 800,000 people live in northern Gaza, constituting regarding 152,000 families, following nearly 1.2 million Palestinians resided there, 400,000 of whom were displaced to the central and southern governorates of the Gaza Strip.

Media outlets, quoting residents of the northern Gaza Strip who refused to leave it, reported that “decomposed corpses fill the streets and ambulances, food and water are prevented from entering.”

What do the experts say?

Jacques Mukhbat, a bacteriologist in Beirut, told Sky News Arabia, “Bodies left behind by wars and natural disasters usually do not pose major risks except in certain cases.”

He added: “Rot forms on the corpse following a period of time has passed, and this is caused by germs that are already present in the body of the person who owns the corpse and are not necessarily dangerous epidemic germs.”

Mukhbat said: “The danger lies in the leakage of blood and fluids from the corpse into groundwater, especially if the owner was infected with an epidemic such as cholera, AIDS, tuberculosis, jaundice, or other infectious viral diseases before his death.”

He continued: “The germs generated by the corpse disappear three days following death.”

Mukhbat stressed “paying attention to the dangers of the presence of decomposing bodies near wastewater networks and drinking water pipes.”

He added: “After the spread of corpses in the streets, it is natural for rodents, especially rats, to multiply.”

He explained: “Here lies the danger if the rats happen to be carrying the plague germ from which fleas and insects feed and are transmitted from it following coming into contact with the insect, especially the flea, to humans if they come into contact with it.”

He concluded: “In the end, the corpses will dry out and harden following they finish the stage of odors and decomposition,” noting that “this applies to the corpses of pets that live with humans as well.”

Global warning

In turn, the Director-General of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, renewed his warning of a health catastrophe in the Gaza Strip, and said in previous statements that “the current living conditions in the Strip and the lack of health care may cause diseases that will claim the lives of a greater number of those killed as a result of the Israeli bombing of the Strip.”

He stressed that “there is now an urgent need for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza, because the matter has become a matter of life and death for civilians.”

Psychological disaster

Psychotherapist Nicola Rizk told Sky News Arabia that “psychological harm from the presence of decomposing bodies in the streets, especially in northern Gaza, is present at a high rate.”

He added, “The harm results from the inability to bury bodies, especially since it is known that the body of the deceased is buried to preserve his image that is firmly established in the memory of his family and those around him.”

He continued: “It is natural for those who remain today in northern Gaza to realize that the smell emanating around is for his family or may be for his friends, and therefore, not being able to bury the bodies, these people will feel their smells, and they may be for people close to them. It will also expose them to major psychological disorders if they are in a relationship.” “Close to its owners or not.”

He added: “Leaving these bodies out in the open will generate feelings of anger that will grow among the people who still live in the geographically close area due to their inability to bury these bodies. They will feel psychological conflict, blame and constant remorse.”

Rizk continued: “As for people who follow the scenes of dead bodies from a distance, that is, via social media platforms, the disaster will be greater because the viewer will look at the images for a longer time.”

He concluded: “It is unfortunate that publishing pictures of decomposing corpses on social media deprives the dead of the sanctity of death and makes everything permissible. What is more dangerous is that it turns sympathy into some disgust and aversion.”

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