Shaaban Bilal (Gaza)
UN experts and officials warned of the repercussions of rising temperatures on the displaced people in Gaza, explaining that the lives of thousands are at risk due to the spread of diseases, epidemics and insects as a result of the inhumane conditions experienced by the residents of the Strip, especially Rafah, which is crowded with displaced people in camps that are not prepared for living.
The spokesman for the Palestinian Red Crescent in Gaza, Raed Al-Nims, explained that the high temperatures seriously affect the lives of the displaced, as children, women and the sick suffer severely and are threatened with losing their lives due to the lack of basic needs in light of the hot and difficult weather.
Al-Nims said in a statement to Al-Ittihad that children are more at risk as a result of high temperatures and the spread of epidemics, diseases and reptiles, in addition to the fact that the closure of the crossings, especially the Rafah crossing, has an impact on the situation in the Gaza Strip in providing health support to those affected by these conditions. He called for the necessity of International and humanitarian action to help thousands of people affected by the Gaza Strip.
In this context, Professor of Political Science at the University of Palestine, Dr. Tayseer Abu Jumaa, stated that hundreds of thousands of displaced people are suffering from high temperatures as they are in tents that do not protect them from the heat of the sun, with electricity being completely cut off, and obstructing any means to help reduce the air temperature.
Abu Jumaa revealed in a statement to Al-Ittihad that the threat of reptiles is widespread in the tents because they are built on dirt land, where the displaced suffer from water scarcity and the spread of waste in the streets, which has caused the collapse of health conditions.
According to the World Health Organization, high temperatures in the Gaza Strip for a long period may become a major problem, and that hot weather increases the severity of all types of health problems.
The organization’s teams have monitored more than 712,000 cases of upper respiratory infection, 380,000 cases of diarrhea, and 87,000 cases of scabies since October, in light of the collapse of the health care system.
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