The Director of the Government Media Office in Gaza, Ismail Al-Thawabta, says Israel has left 34 hospitals inoperable.
Hospitals in the besieged Gaza Strip have lost 75 percent of their capacity amid Israel’s devastating war, according to the director of hospitals at the enclave’s Ministry of Health.
Meanwhile, the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) has warned that “50,000 pregnant women are in danger,” with 4,000 deliveries expected in the next month alone.
🔹@UNFPA reports 50,000 pregnant women in #Gaza and 4,000 deliveries expected next month. 15,000 face famine risk
🔹Heavy rains and limited aid worsen conditions for Gaza’s displaced
🔹2024 is the deadliest year for humanitarians (281 deaths, most UNRWA staff in Gaza) per… pic.twitter.com/upzkqHIjOH— UNRWA (@UNRWA) November 28, 2024
Hospitals Director Marwan Al-Hams said the majority of hospitals in Gaza are now out of service, with only five still operating but at a limited capacity, the Middle East Monitor reported.
He explained that doctors are operating despite a severe shortage of medicines that prevents them from treating thousands of patients.
Al-Hams described the health situation in Gaza as catastrophic due to the severe shortage in all surgical departments, causing many of them to stop operating.
For his part, director of the Government Media Office in Gaza, Ismail Al-Thawabta, said Israel has left 34 hospitals inoperable, said MEMO.
Pregnant, Breastfeeding Women
The UNFPA this week said that in addition to “weakened immune systems,” and the risk of waterborne diseases, pregnant and breastfeeding women “must also survive alongside piles of rubbish and sewage and with barely any access to healthcare.”
“We have no shelter – where are we supposed to go?”
Women and children in #Gaza face displacement, hunger and dire healthcare shortages.
50,000 pregnant women are in danger.
See how @UNFPA—the @UN sexual and reproductive health agency—is taking action. https://t.co/4xOW7IYUST
— UNFPA (@UNFPA) November 27, 2024
“In these dire circumstances, there are around 50,000 pregnant women in Gaza, with 4,000 deliveries expected in the next month alone,” according to UNFPA.
Initial data indicate that in the last six months there has been a sharp rise in reported miscarriages, the agency noted.
Heavy Rains
UNRWA, the UN Agency for Palestine Refugees, also warned that heavy rains and limited aid “worsen conditions” for Gaza’s displaced.
Citing the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, UNRWA said 2024 “is the deadliest year for humanitarians” with 281 deaths, mostly the UN agency’s staff in Gaza.
Winds, rains and winter conditions are worsening the living situation of children and families in Gaza.
UNICEF is supporting them with essential supplies and services for winter, including winter clothes.
A ceasefire is absolutely critical now. pic.twitter.com/2ld0xBbq7D
— UNICEF (@UNICEF) November 26, 2024
UNRWA earlier warned that thousands of families who fled the besieged areas “are now sheltering in the cold and rain without blankets, mattresses and waterproof shelters.”
“The situation is beyond miserable,” it stressed.
‘Beyond Miserable’ – Israel Blocks UN Attempts to Deliver Aid to Northern Gaza
The agency said on Thursday that Israel has denied 82 out of 91 attempts by the UN to deliver aid to the besieged northern Gaza Strip between October 6 and November 25.
It also impeded nine other requests for life-saving humanitarian assistance to reach three specific areas in the territory which has been under Israeli bombardment and a military siege for close to two months.
Staggering Death Toll
Flouting a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire, Israel has faced international condemnation amid its continued brutal offensive on Gaza.
Currently on trial before the International Court of Justice for genocide against Palestinians, Israel has been waging a devastating war on Gaza since October 7.
The United Nations Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) said in a statement that since October 2023, Gaza has been witnessing the most intense bombing targeting civilians since World War II.
Meanwhile, Israeli forces continued to carry out massacres in the Strip, especially… pic.twitter.com/XjFW6AiWJz
— The Palestine Chronicle (@PalestineChron) November 29, 2024
According to Gaza’s Ministry of Health, 44,330 Palestinians have, to date, been killed, and 104,933 wounded.
Moreover, at least 11,000 people are unaccounted for, presumed dead under the rubble of their homes throughout the Strip.
Israel says that 1,200 soldiers and civilians were killed during the Al-Aqsa Flood Operation on October 7. Israeli media published reports suggesting that many Israelis were killed on that day by ‘friendly fire’.
Palestinian and international organizations say that the majority of those killed and wounded are women and children.
Millions Displaced
The Israeli war has resulted in an acute famine, mostly in northern Gaza, resulting in the death of many Palestinians, mostly children.
The Israeli aggression has also resulted in the forceful displacement of nearly two million people from all over the Gaza Strip, with the vast majority of the displaced forced into the densely crowded southern city of Rafah near the border with Egypt – in what has become Palestine’s largest mass exodus since the 1948 Nakba.
Later in the war, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians began moving from the south to central Gaza in a constant search for safety.
(PC, MEMO)
