WHO warns of infectious disease threat in the Gaza Strip
Chen Lixi. As Israel has intensified its air strikes and ground operations in the central and southern parts of the Palestinian Gaza Strip, a large number of Palestinians have had to flee south for their lives, to places such as Rafah, the southernmost tip of the Gaza Strip.
World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus posted on the 29th that large-scale displacement has occurred in the southern Gaza Strip, many people have to take refuge in overcrowded medical facilities, and the growing threat of infectious diseases makes the WHO "deeply worried".
There is no "safe place" in Gaza
The Israeli army has recently expanded its military operations in the Gaza Strip and is currently focusing on the Buraij, Nusailit and Maighazi refugee camps in the central part of the country, as well as Khan Younis, the largest city in the south. According to the Israeli side, Yahya Sinwar, the leader of the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) in the Gaza Strip, is now hiding in Khan Younis. Sinwar is believed to be one of the masterminds behind Hamas's October 7 raid on Israel.
The Israeli army said on the 29th that the Israeli army had recently discovered and destroyed a hideout in Sinwar near Gaza City in the northern part of the Gaza Strip and destroyed its underground network. The underground network is 20 metres deep and 218 metres long, allowing Palestinian militants to hide and carry out attacks for long periods of time.
According to data released by the health department of the Gaza Strip, the Israeli army's military operations in the Gaza Strip have caused more than 210,000 deaths, 5More than 50,000 people were injured. The Israeli side said that more than 1,300 Israelis were killed in the current round of clashes.
According to the United Nations, about 85 percent of the 2.3 million people in the Gaza Strip have been forced to flee their homes. The fleeing crowds went to the so-called "safe zones" unilaterally designated by Israel, which were also targeted by Israeli bombardment. According to the Associated Press, there is no "safe place" in Gaza for Palestinians.
In the al-Nusailat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip, a Palestinian journalist from Al-Quds Al-Sharif and several members of his family were killed in an Israeli airstrike. According to the Gaza Strip** office, the number of Palestinian journalists killed in Israeli attacks rose to 106.
In the first 10 weeks since the current round of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict began on October 7, the number of journalists killed in the conflict was the highest in a single year, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists, a nonprofit based in the United States. Most of the journalists killed were Palestinians, and the committee was "particularly concerned about the apparent pattern of Israeli forces targeting journalists and their families". Israel insisted that it had never targeted journalists.
In Rafah, the southernmost part of the Gaza Strip, what was once a vacant lot is filled with tents and makeshift huts, and people arrive by truck, trolley or on foot. According to the United Nations, about 850,000 people now live in Rafah and the surrounding area, up from 280,000 before the outbreak of the new Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Juliette Tooma, spokeswoman for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), said that some people slept in cars, while others slept in the open air.
The health system here is nearly collapsing, people are deprived of access to clean drinking water and basic health care, and diseases such as rashes and diarrhoea are spreading. Dalia Samhadana, who fled Khan Younis to Rafah earlier this month, now lives under the same roof as 49 people. She told the Associated Press: "Everybody here is infected with the disease. ”
According to the Associated Press, Israeli forces evacuated residents of central Gaza to the south, but Rafah was also hit by Israeli artillery. On the night of the 28th, Israeli military airstrikes on a civilian home, killing at least 23 people. Shuluk Aoun, who lives near the house, said that it was because the Israeli army claimed that it was safe that she and her family finally fled from northern Gaza.
WHO is "deeply concerned".
Philip Lazzarini, Director-General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Near East Refugees and Works Agency (UNRWA), said almost everyone in the Gaza Strip was dependent on outside aid for their livelihoods. Twenty-five per cent of Gaza's population has been forced to go hungry because of insufficient aid to enter the Gaza Strip.
For the first time since the outbreak of the current round of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, Israel opened the Kerem Shalom border crossing connecting the Gaza Strip on the 17th of this month, allowing humanitarian aid to enter the Gaza Strip through the crossing. Until Israel reopens the Kerem Shalom crossing, aid supplies will only be able to enter the Gaza Strip through the Rafah crossing, which borders Egypt with the southern Gaza Strip.
Lazzarini said on the 29th that the current delivery of materials has encountered strict restrictions from the Israeli side. In addition, the delivery and distribution of aid into the Gaza Strip has been hampered by continued Israeli bombardment, material inspections, exchanges of fire and disruption of communications. Lazzarini called on the Israeli army to open safe passage for aid vehicles.
Thomas White, UNRWA's head of Gaza Strip affairs, posted on social media that on the 28th, Israeli forces damaged a convoy returning from the north of the Gaza Strip to the south after completing the delivery of aid. The route of the convoy at that time was the route designated by the Israeli army. The Israeli army has not yet responded to this.
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on the 29th that in the southern Gaza Strip, displacement continues to occur, and many people have to take refuge in overcrowded medical facilities. WHO is "deeply concerned" about the growing threat of infectious diseases.
According to Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, people living in shelters continued to fall ill and nearly 180,000 people developed upper respiratory tract infections, according to Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus13.640,000 people had diarrhoea, half of whom were under the age of 5;4.270,000 people developed rashes;There are also thousands of cases of chickenpox and other diseases.
The United Nations Children** delivered at least 600,000 doses of vaccines for children to the Gaza Strip on the 29th of this month. Israel confirmed that the vaccine includes polio (commonly known as polio), tuberculosis and measles. (End) (Special article by Xinhua News Agency).