Dina Mahmoud, Agencies (Gaza, Cairo, London)
Yesterday, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi warned of the danger of obstructing the entry of aid into the Gaza Strip and using food as a weapon against civilians in the Strip.
During his speech at the headquarters of the Egyptian Police Academy, President Sisi strongly denounced the killings and violence that have been continuing for more than 5 months in Gaza. He stressed that “Egypt is striving with every effort to reach a ceasefire in Gaza and save innocent civilians from the scourge of war that has been continuing for more than 5 months.”
Al-Sisi stressed the need of the people of the Gaza Strip for thousands of tons on a daily basis to meet the needs of Gaza, stressing Egypt’s tireless endeavor to reach a truce in Gaza to enter the largest possible amount of humanitarian aid, to limit the impact of the famine on the people of the Gaza Strip, and to allow the Palestinians in the center and south of the Gaza Strip to move in the direction of North to their places.
President Sisi warned of the danger of invading Rafah and the expansion of the scope of the war, stressing at the same time Egypt’s endeavor to find a real opportunity to establish an independent Palestinian state on the 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital, with international recognition.
Yesterday, medical sources in the Gaza Strip announced the killing and wounding of dozens of civilians who were waiting for humanitarian aid in Gaza City, as a result of Israeli bombing and gunfire from helicopters and drones.
The sources reported that “dozens were killed and injured as a result of the Israeli army targeting a gathering of civilians waiting for humanitarian aid to satisfy their thirst at the Kuwait Roundabout in Gaza City, north of the Strip.”
In this context, experts in the field of public health warned that the massive human and material losses inflicted on the Gaza Strip as a result of the war may represent only the tip of the iceberg, a catastrophe that the Strip may witness and continue for decades.
The Palestinians who may survive after the end of the current war will, in most cases, become prey to various health risks that may remain with them throughout their lives, requiring the institutions concerned with providing medical services to prepare to meet their needs for decades to come, a task that cannot be achieved. It seems that none of the local, regional, or international health authorities are currently prepared to deal with it successfully.
This means, according to experts, that even if the war ended tomorrow, its catastrophic health effects will continue in Gaza for decades, including the suffering of many residents from physical disabilities due to the amputation of one or more of their limbs, and the infection of others with mental and psychological diseases, while a team will become A third is vulnerable to chronic lung diseases, heart disease, and cancer due to environmentally polluting chemicals found in munitions and bombs stuck among the rubble of destroyed buildings.
These potential health risks also include the fact that a large portion of the people of Gaza suffer from deteriorating immunity, especially in light of the severe malnutrition currently prevailing in the Strip, which has led to many facing famine-like conditions.
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