Today's Edition
Gaza (Aletihad, Agencies)
The Gaza Strip faces a serious risk of famine, warned the United Nations (UN), calling for the expansion of safe and unimpeded access to humanitarian aid. The UN added that areas in the Gaza Strip that are considered to be safe suffer from the absence of shelter, sanitation, and water.
The World Food Programme, a part of the UN, in a statement, expressed concern about the risk of famine and hunger in Gaza, noting that many people in the sector live on one meal a day “if they are lucky”. The statement also stressed the need for peace more than anything else.
This comes at a time when the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said that, according to the Gazan Ministry of Health, at least 316 people had been killed and 664 others injured between December 2 and December 3.
The office pointed to the continued intense Israeli attacks by air, land, and sea across the Gaza Strip. OCHA explained that on December 3, trucks carrying humanitarian supplies from Egypt entered Gaza, noting that the exact number and content were not clear. The organisation added that the Egyptian border was opened to evacuate 566 foreigners and dual nationals, 13 injured individuals and 11 of their companions, in addition to the entry of 10 humanitarian workers.
The office reported limited aid distribution in the Rafah Governorate in Gaza, especially flour and water, while aid distribution was largely stopped due to the severity of the hostile activities in the neighbouring Khan Yunis Governorate. The office said that the central area is largely isolated from the south, following the Israeli forces’ prevention of movement and humanitarian supply access after the resumption of hostilities on December 1.
In this context, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said that the Gazan areas designated as safe by the Israelis, are now threatened with becoming “infested” due to the absence of shelter, water, and sanitation. UNICEF spokesperson James Elder stressed the need for sufficient resources in the areas where people are being evacuated, such as medical facilities, water, and food.
Meanwhile, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said that it had to transfer supplies from its medical warehouse in the southern Gaza Strip within 24 hours after a warning from the Israeli army that ground operations would prevent access to it.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus in a post on the X platform, called on Israel to withdraw and take all possible measures to protect civilians and civilian infrastructure, including hospitals and humanitarian facilities. The Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories, a branch of the Israeli Ministry of Defense, denied in a statement that it had asked the WHO to evacuate warehouses.
Shannon Barkley from the WHO team in the Occupied Palestinian Territories said in a press conference that the organisation’s staff in Gaza managed to partially complete the warehouse evacuation process and move to a new facility.Ahmed Al-Mandhari, the WHO Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean, warned in the press conference that Israel’s intensification of ground military operations in southern Gaza, especially in Khan Yunis, will likely prevent thousands from accessing healthcare.
WHO officials said that they are concerned about the widespread outbreak of diseases due to the lack of access to clean water. Al-Mandhari mentioned that the WHO had noticed an increase in the spread of infectious diseases, such as acute respiratory infections, scabies, jaundice, and serious cases of diarrhoea.
Dr. Richard Brennan from the WHO Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean said that health officials are also concerned about hepatitis E, which can be transmitted from person to person through contaminated water and poses a particular risk to pregnant women.
Brennan added that the health sector in Gaza had seen a “massive deterioration” as currently only 18 hospitals are operating, compared to 36 hospitals before the war, and those open are operating poor capacity. He said that the organisation’s ability to meet the needs of Gazan residents is declining, just as those needs are increasing.
