Risks of an epidemic spreading in the Gaza Strip are increasing due to the collapse of the health system there.
Margaret Harris, spokeswoman for the World Health Organization (WHO), said in media statements that the health system in Gaza is “getting worse,” and that there are “risks of main diseases” spreading, without specifying its type. She confirmed that there are signs of this coming epidemic.
Harris also confirmed the displacement of nearly one million children in Gaza and warned of major risks of diseases spreading among them, as WHO is concerned about children in particular being exposed to the epidemic.
She continued describing the cold and rainy weather in Gaza, saying, “There is a real state of hunger. 90 per cent of people do not have food or do not know where to get enough food,” “Everyone is hungry,” Harris added.
She pointed out that the Palestinian Red Crescent Society was unable to provide ambulance services in northern Gaza, “and thus its inability to treat the injured.”
She reported that 8 out of 36 hospitals in Gaza currently provide partial services, while there are difficulties in delivering medical supplies to these hospitals.
Harris stressed the urgent need for a ceasefire in Gaza.
Since October 7, 2023, the Israeli occupation has been waging an extermination war on the Gaza Strip, which has left 19,667 dead and 52,586 wounded until December 19, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health, in addition to massive destruction of infrastructure and an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe.
Since the start of the war, the Israeli occupation has cut off all supplies of electricity, water, fuel and food to the Palestinians of the Gaza Strip, bombed bakeries, factories, stores, water stations and tanks, and destroyed the infrastructure.
The Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip constitutes a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law and human rights, as it puts the lives and property of civilians in extreme danger and exposes them to suffering. These violations require urgent intervention from the international community to stop the aggression and protect civilians in the Gaza Strip.
