The Ministry of Health of the Gaza Strip warned this Tuesday that the humanitarian crisis due to the war between Israel and the Islamist group Hamas is generating epidemic outbreaks that already affect some 3,100 people, most of them children.
“We warn of a large epidemic wave that could devastate the Gaza Strip and that cannot be controlled,” the spokesman for the Ministry of Health of the Palestinian enclave, Ashraf al Qudra, said in a statement.
The spokesperson stated that “epidemics are spreading more and more due to the saturation of reception centers” for displaced people, a problem that is aggravated by the lack of drinking water and the impossibility of maintaining a minimum of personal hygiene in the face of the Israeli invasion. . siege, which prevents access to food, electricity or medicine.
As the conflict progresses, epidemic diseases are on the rise and have been increasingly reported in primary care centers in the enclave, especially among children who cannot obtain basic medical care.
“The epidemics include diarrheal diseases, food poisoning, skin diseases, scabies and bronchial infections, as well as dozens of cases of chickenpox,” the spokesperson said.
The impact of the war on Palestinian children is getting worse and the non-governmental organization (NGO) Save the Children reported this Tuesday that there could be close to 900 children missing in the rubble, without rescue teams having the capacity to remove them. due to lack of fuel and incessant Israeli bombing.
The Islamist group Hamas launched a surprise attack in southern Israel on October 7 with the launch of thousands of rockets and the incursion of armed militiamen, taking more than two hundred hostages.
In response, Israel declared war on Hamas, a movement that has controlled the Gaza Strip since 2007 and is classified as terrorist by the European Union and the United States, bombing several of the group’s infrastructures in the enclave. He also imposed a total siege on the territory, cutting off the supply of water, fuel and electricity.
Since Saturday, Israel has authorized the passage of three columns of humanitarian aid trucks to the enclave, but local authorities and international organizations affirm that the quantities are far from what is necessary.
The conflict has already caused thousands of deaths and injuries, between soldiers and civilians, in both territories.
Source: TSF
