GAZA, (PIC)
The health and environmental conditions in the Gaza Strip are worsening with the spread of rats and parasites inside displacement camps, in light of the continued Israeli siege and the prevention of the entry of medical supplies and insecticides, which threatens the population with more diseases and epidemics, especially children living in crowded tents that lack the minimum necessities of life.
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees, UNRWA, said on Thursday that rats have begun biting children while they sleep inside tents, in a scene that reflects the scale of the humanitarian and health deterioration experienced by the displaced people in the Strip.
The agency explained, in a post via the X platform, that Gaza residents face increasing risks of contracting diseases, as a result of forced displacement, extreme overcrowding inside tents, and the lack of clean water, along with the collapse of environmental health systems and basic services.
UNRWA confirmed that it is monitoring, in cooperation with the World Health Organization and local partners, the rapid rise in cases of skin infections and the risks of the spread of diseases related to the spread of rats and parasites, emphasizing the need to urgently bring more tents, insecticides, and medicines into the besieged Strip.
The agency had warned two days ago of the deterioration of health conditions in Gaza, with the registration of thousands of infections resulting from the spread of rats, lice, fleas, and mites, at a time when health facilities suffer from a severe shortage of medicines and treatment supplies due to the continuous Israeli restrictions on the entry of aid.
It noted that its medical teams are able to deal with only about 40 percent of the registered cases, although these diseases can be easily treated in normal conditions using simple medicines, yet the scarcity of medicines and medical materials prevents the containment of the crisis.
In the same context, the World Health Organization announced, on 25 April last, the registration of more than 17,000 infections related to rodents and ectoparasites in the Gaza Strip since the beginning of the current year, warning that the desperate and dangerous conditions inside the Strip hinder health response and recovery efforts.
The organization confirmed that overcrowding inside shelter centers and tents, along with poor sanitation services and the lack of clean water, contributes to high rates of infection and the spread of diseases among families, especially among children and the displaced.
Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in Gaza live in tents and temporary shelter centers, after the destruction of their neighborhoods and homes due to the continuous Israeli war, at a time when warnings are increasing of a large-scale health and environmental collapse with the continued prevention of the entry of basic needs into the Strip.
On 7 October 2023, Israel began, with American support, a war of genocide in Gaza that lasted two years, and left more than 72,000 martyrs and more than 172,000 injured Palestinians, most of them children and women.
Despite the ceasefire agreement in effect since ten October last year, Israel continues the genocide through a continuous siege and daily shelling that killed 846 Palestinians and injured 2,418, most of them children and women, as well as physical destruction.
Israel also blocks the entry of the agreed-upon quantities of food, medicine, medical supplies, shelter materials, and prefabricated houses into Gaza, where about 2,400,000 Palestinians, including 1,500,000 displaced persons, live in catastrophic conditions.
