Dec 31, 2023, 11:00 AM

UN agency warns of infectious disease spread in Gaza

UN agency warns of infectious disease spread in Gaza

TEHRAN, Dec.31 (MNA) – The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) warned of the intensification of infectious disease spread in the Gaza Strip, which suffered a lack of humanitarian aid and subsequent disastrous repercussions.

The spread of diseases in Gaza has intensified, especially due to the recent mass displacement throughout southern Gaza and the need for some families to move several times, Xinhua reported citing the OCHA statement on Saturday.

The agency added that this situation increases pressure on the already overwhelmed Palestinian health system, which is struggling to meet the enormous needs of the population at a time when the majority of hospitals across the strip are out of service.

It explained that nearly 180,000 people suffer from upper respiratory infections, while there are 136,400 cases of diarrhea, with half of them reported among children under the age of five.

Meanwhile, 55,400 people have had scabies, 5,330 have chickenpox, 42,700 suffer from skin rashes, and 126 suffer from meningitis.

The statement pointed out that 1.9 million people in Gaza, or approximately 85 percent of the whole population, have become internally displaced, including those who are forced to move frequently to seek refuge.

It added that the lack of food and survival items and poor hygiene exacerbate the already difficult living conditions of the displaced and prompt the spread of diseases.

The World Food Program warned a few days ago that the Palestinian enclave is facing the fifth stage of acute food insecurity and that the risk of famine is increasing daily amid intensified conflict and restricted humanitarian access.

Israel waged the brutal war on Gaza on October 7 after the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas carried out a historic operation against the occupying entity in response to the Israeli regime’s decades-long violence against Palestinians.

Since the start of the aggression, the Tel Aviv regime has killed at least 21,500 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and injured 55,600 others.

The Tel Aviv regime has imposed a “complete siege” on the territory, cutting off fuel, electricity, food, and water to the more than two million Palestinians living there. 

AMK/PR

News ID 210121

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