Gaza (Union)
The World Health Organization warned yesterday that high temperatures in the Gaza Strip may exacerbate the health problems faced by displaced Palestinians.
The United Nations World Food Program warned that a massive public health crisis was looming in Gaza due to shortages of clean water, food and medical supplies.
Richard Peppercorn, WHO representative in Gaza and the West Bank, said: “We have witnessed massive displacement over the past weeks and months, and we know that this combination of conditions and heat can cause an increase in diseases.”
He continued: “We have water pollution due to the high temperature of the water, and we will witness more food spoilage due to high temperatures, and mosquitoes, flies, dehydration, and sunstroke will spread.”
Peppercorn stated that in Gaza, due to the poor state of water and sanitation, 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.
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.
Pepperkorn stressed that the daily “tactical truce” announced by Israel in the southern Gaza Strip had no impact on the arrival of humanitarian aid.
He added: “We, as the United Nations, can say that we have not noticed any impact on the arrival of humanitarian aid since this unilateral announcement of this technical truce.”
Meanwhile, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said that hundreds of thousands of displaced people in southern Gaza suffer from poor access to shelter and lack health care, food, water and sanitation.
The OCHA office added in a statement that from June 71 to June 14, it conducted humanitarian assessments in displacement sites in Deir al-Balah, Khan Yunis, and the Mawasi Rafah area, where it was found that people were living in tents in overcrowded temporary shelters and in dire need of repair.
He pointed out that access to water is very low, in addition to that people are forced to stand in queues for long hours to obtain it and are forced to rely on seawater for domestic use.
OCHA warned that there is a continuing spread of infectious diseases in light of the overflow of sewage and the almost complete lack of hygiene materials.
He explained that access restrictions continued to seriously undermine the delivery of essential humanitarian aid and services throughout Gaza.
The UN office stressed that Israel must ensure that assistance fully reaches those most in need in Gaza and that all obstacles must be removed.
In turn, the Special Representative of the United Nations Women’s Office in Palestine, Maris Guimond, said that about 9 months of war on the Gaza Strip completely deprived the population of food security, shelter, health and livelihoods.
Guimond said in a press conference held yesterday, at the United Nations headquarters in Geneva: “What I saw in Gaza is beyond description. The moment you enter through the Kerem Shalom crossing, and the fence closes behind you, you feel trapped in a world of destruction.”
She added: “Houses, hospitals, schools, universities, and care centers were demolished, and as you move toward the central region, you see crowds of people, men, women, and children, in temporary tents.”
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