The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned that more people could die from disease than from bombings in the Gaza Strip if the health and sanitation systems are not ameliorated.
Critical infrastructure in war-ravaged Gaza has been decimated by fuel and supply shortages and targeted attacks on hospitals and United Nations facilities since Israel attacked Gaza on October 7.
While speaking at a briefing in Geneva recently, Margaret Harris, a spokesperson for the WHO, said: “Eventually we will see more people dying from disease than from bombardment if we are not able to put back together this health system.”
She described the crumble of al-Shifa Hospital in northern Gaza as a “tragedy” and raised concern about the detention of some of its medical staff by Israeli forces who invaded the complex earlier this month.
Also, she reiterated concerns about an increase in outbreaks of infectious diseases in Gaza, particularly diarrhea.
She cited a United Nations report on the living conditions of displaced residents in northern Gaza and said: “[There are] no medicines, no vaccination activities, no access to safe water and hygiene and no food.”
The WHO says all key sanitation services have ceased operating in Gaza, which could increase the likelihood of gastrointestinal and infectious diseases among the local populations including cholera.
The WHO says it has recorded over 44,000 cases of diarrhea and 70,000 acute respiratory infections, but the real number may be significantly higher.
James Elder, a spokesperson from the UN children’s agency in Gaza, talked to reporters via video link and said hospitals were full of children with war wounds and gastroenteritis from drinking dirty water.
He said: “They don’t have access to safe water and it’s crippling them.”
Despite the temporary ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas, which was extended by two days, the Hamas-run Ministry of Health said no fuel had arrived for generators at hospitals in the territory’s north.
The Mayor of Gaza City, Yahya al-Siraj said without fuel, the territory could not pump clean water or clear waste accumulating in the streets, warning of a imminent public health “catastrophe”.
