2023-11-22 08:47:03
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) warned that a health tragedy threatens the Gaza Strip due to the lack of fuel and water.
The organization’s spokesman said that if fuel is not provided in sufficient quantities, “we will witness the collapse of sanitation facilities, which creates conditions for the spread of diseases and a tragedy,” as he put it.
Since the start of the escalation in Gaza at the beginning of last October, Israel has prevented the entry of any fuel shipments into the Strip, but it recently allowed the entry of several thousand liters for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), in addition to the Palestinian Telecommunications Company.
Israel’s prevention of the entry of fuel into Gaza caused the cessation of water pumping from 76 wells, in addition to the cessation of the two UNRWA desalination plants, as well as the cessation of 15 sewage pumps, which represents a severe threat to public health.
The fuel shortage created a humanitarian tragedy, following premature babies faced an unknown fate in Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza, as work in the nursery department stopped due to a power outage and the depletion of oxygen, before they were transferred to hospitals on the Egyptian side.
According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, the death toll since October 7 has exceeded 13,000, and tens of thousands more have been injured, in addition to the displacement of regarding one and a half million people in the Gaza Strip, half of whom are children.
Gaza… bloodshed and destruction
The World Health Organization said a few days ago that it is deeply concerned regarding the spread of diseases in the Gaza Strip, where the ongoing Israeli bombing for weeks has caused residents to crowd into shelters with a severe shortage of food and clean water.
The organization’s representative in the Palestinian territories, Richard Peppercorn, said: “We are very concerned regarding the spread of diseases when the winter season arrives.”
He added that more than 70,000 cases of acute respiratory infection and more than 44,000 cases of diarrhea were monitored in the densely populated Gaza Strip, indicating that the numbers are much higher than expected, according to Archyde.com.
The World Health Organization previously warned of “worrying patterns” in the spread of diseases in the Gaza Strip, where Israeli bombing and ground attacks, which have continued for more than 40 days, have undermined the health system, impeded access to clean water, and also led to people overcrowding in shelters.
The start of the rainy season and the possibility of floods have increased fears of the exhaustion of the sewage network in the besieged, densely populated sector, and the spread of diseases.
The lack of fuel has already led to the closure of sewage and water desalination plants, increasing the risk of water pollution and disease outbreaks.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said on Friday that regarding 813,000 displaced people reside in at least 154 shelter centers run by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA).
The office warned that “overcrowding leads to the spread of diseases, including acute respiratory diseases and diarrhea, which raises environmental and health concerns.”
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