Today's Edition
Gaza (Aletihad)
The Gaza Strip is currently grappling with a looming health crisis, primarily due to the overcrowding of displaced people and the complete exhaustion of children’s vaccinations in the area.
This dire situation has been exacerbated by a significant rise in cases of diarrhoea and respiratory infections, as confirmed by the United Nations. The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) declared on Wednesday that Gaza is facing a public health disaster following the collapse of its healthcare system. This collapse is largely attributed to the rapid spread of diseases amid severe population congestion.
Lynn Hastings, the United Nations Coordinator for Humanitarian Affairs in the Palestinian Territories, in a statement, said that the healthcare system is collapsing. This statement underscores the severity of the crisis in Gaza, where internal displacement has led to overcrowding in shelters and other temporary living facilities, affecting approximately 85% of the population. Hastings further highlighted the dire sanitation conditions, noting that people in Gaza are forced to wait in lines for hours just to access basic amenities like toilets.
Nearly half of Gaza’s 2.3 million population have relocated to Rafah in the southern part of the sector, fleeing from Israeli bombing. This mass movement has escalated the health crisis, as expressed by Hastings. The Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza announced the complete depletion of children’s vaccinations, emphasising the catastrophic health implications this shortage could have, especially among the displaced population in overcrowded shelters.
The Ministry urged UN institutions to urgently intervene to supply necessary vaccinations and ensure their distribution across the Gaza Strip to prevent further disaster. The health sector in Gaza is under severe strain due to a shortage of medicines and medical supplies, a situation that has been ongoing since the Israeli war on the sector began on October 7. Hospitals in Gaza City and the northern parts of the sector have been heavily impacted, with their operations disrupted due to targeting and restricted access to medical supplies.
In a related development, the World Health Organisation reported a substantial increase in cases of acute respiratory infections, diarrhoea, head lice, skin diseases, and other rapidly spreading diseases. The organisation highlighted the unreasonable inspection and obstruction of ambulances and the assault on health workers amidst the ongoing conflict in the Gaza Strip.
In a recent mission, a team from the World Health Organisation, in collaboration with the Palestinian Red Crescent and the OCHA, delivered medical supplies to the Baptist Hospital in Gaza and transferred 19 critically ill patients to the Nasser Medical Centre in southern Gaza for better care.
However, this mission was not without challenges. The UN convoy, including the World Health Organisation team, faced inspections at military checkpoints while en route to northern Gaza. Ambulance crews were detained under the pretext of identity verification, causing delays. Upon entering Gaza, the aid truck and an ambulance were shot at.
The return journey involved similar inspections and delays.
Palestinian health workers and patients were forced to stay away from the ambulances for security checks, and critically ill patients remained in the ambulances, subjected to searches by Israeli soldiers. These incidents of obstructing ambulances and targeting humanitarian and health workers were strongly condemned as “unreasonable” in the statement.
