The director of Kamal Adwan Hospital, Hossam Abu Safiya, warned of a humanitarian catastrophe in the northern Gaza Strip, due to the worsening spread of epidemics and famine, while the World Health Organization said on Friday that rising temperatures will lead to an exacerbation of health problems in the Strip.
Abu Safiya said in an interview with Tel Aviv Tribune, “The situation in the Gaza and northern governorates is very bad. Hundreds of children in the Strip suffer from malnutrition, and we work with the minimum in the health system in the absence of medical supplies, consumables, and medicines.”
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He added that the specter of famine is sweeping the region again, and there is a lack of availability of foods with diverse nutritional values, stressing that for weeks no basic materials have entered the northern Gaza Strip, and what is available is only flour, which is not sufficient for the structure of the bodies of children, the elderly, and pregnant women, and the foods in it are required. Fats and proteins.
Abu Safiya explained that 214 children arrived at the hospital within 14 days, showing signs of malnutrition, including more than 50 cases suffering from advanced malnutrition, and 6 cases in critical condition and being treated in the intensive care department.
He continued, “These children live only on resuscitation solutions, and they do not have milk or special food, which poses a threat to their lives.”
The director of Kamal Adwan Hospital in the northern Gaza Strip also described the health situation in the north as very bad, and warned that several diseases had begun to spread again in the Strip, including hepatitis and intestinal infections.
Hyperthermia
For its part, the World Health Organization said that high temperatures in the Gaza Strip may exacerbate the health problems faced by Palestinians who were displaced due to Israeli bombing and violent fighting.
The United Nations World Food Program has warned that a massive public health crisis is looming in Gaza due to shortages of clean water, food and medical supplies.
“We have witnessed massive displacement over the past weeks and months, and we know that this combination of conditions and rising temperatures can cause an increase in infectious diseases,” said Richard Peppercorn, WHO representative in Gaza and the West Bank.
He continued, “We have water pollution due to the high temperature of the water, and we will see more food spoilage due to high temperatures, and mosquitoes, flies, dehydration, and sunstroke will spread.”
Peppercorn stated that in Gaza, due to the poor water and sanitation situation, the number of diarrhea cases has increased 25 times than usual.
According to the World Health Organization, polluted water and poor sanitation are linked to diseases such as cholera, diarrhea, dysentery, and hepatitis A.
The World Health Organization has been unable to carry out medical evacuations from Gaza since the closure of the Rafah crossing in early May.
Peppercorn stated that an estimated 10,000 patients still require medical evacuation from Gaza, half of whom suffer from war-related illnesses.
A formal truce
In a related context, the official of the Occupied Palestinian Territories at the World Health Organization, Richard Peppercorn, confirmed that the daily tactical truce announced by Israel in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip had no impact on the arrival of humanitarian aid.
Pepperkorn said in a press conference that humanitarian workers “cannot go to the Kerem Shalom crossing in complete safety, due to the lack of security.”
In turn, Jens Laerke, spokesman for the United Nations Office for Emergency Coordination, confirmed that humanitarian aid “was very little,” and fuel entered in very limited quantities.
On June 7, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said that 9 out of every 10 children in Gaza suffer from a serious lack of food, and that malnutrition increases the risk to life in the Strip.
It stated in a report, “The situation in Gaza shows that families are unable to meet the nutritional needs of their children, which may lead to serious consequences for the children.”
For his part, Martin Griffiths, United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, predicted on June 12 that half of the population of the Gaza Strip would face death and famine by mid-July.
Since last October 7, the Israeli occupation army has been waging a devastating war on Gaza with absolute American support, which has left more than 123,000 Palestinians dead or wounded, putting Tel Aviv into international isolation and causing it to be prosecuted before the International Court of Justice.
Israel continues its war despite two UN Security Council resolutions to stop it immediately, and orders from the International Court of Justice to end the Rafah invasion, take measures to prevent acts of “genocide,” and improve the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza.