Gaza facing ‘public health disaster’ as Israeli army besieges hospitals: UN

The United Nations humanitarian office has said that people in the Gaza Strip are facing a “public health disaster” as the Israeli regime presses ahead with its brutal assault against Palestinians.

“We all know that the health care system is or has collapsed,” Lynn Hastings, the UN Humanitarian Coordinator for the Occupied Palestinian Territory said on Wednesday.

“We’ve got a textbook formula for epidemics and a public health disaster,” Hastings added. 

The United Nations and aid groups have sounded the alarm about the spread of infectious disease in Gaza.

Hastings said people in Gaza had to line up for hours just to access a toilet.

“You can imagine what the sanitation conditions are like,” she said. “This is leading to nothing but a health crisis.”

Hastings said that almost half of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million was now in Rafah in the southern tip of the besieged territory to escape Israeli bombardment.

The southern Gaza Strip is presently reeling under heavy Israeli bombardment, with UN officials warning that no place in Gaza is safe amid Israel's new air raids and evacuation orders.

More than 85 percent of Gaza's population has been internally displaced amid the Israeli aggression.

Al-Awda Hospital remains under Israeli military siege

Israeli forces have laid a heavy siege on Al-Awda and Kamal Adwan hospitals in northern Gaza, with several Palestinians killed and injured.

In the latest update, Gaza Health Ministry Spokesperson Ashraf al-Qudra said that Israeli forces continue to detain the entire medical staff of Kamal Adwan Hospital, including director Ahmed al-Kahlout.

Civilians who took shelter in the hospital were ordered to leave, and then the Israeli forces opened fire on them. As a result, five of them were injured.

Al-Awda Hospital remains under military siege, leaving the entire northern part of the Gaza Strip without any type of medical service.

The few hospitals that remain operating in the south can no longer cope with the massive number of victims, forcing medical staff to make hard decisions about who to treat and who to leave to die.

Gaza's health system remains under Israeli military siege: WHO

World Health Organization officials say Gaza’s health system remains under siege and is barely functioning.

WHO said on Tuesday that only 11 of Gaza's 36 hospitals were partially functional, one in the north and 10 in the south of the besieged territory

Palestinians have appealed to international organizations to deliver, fuel and medical supplies to these hospitals.

At least 38 medical staff remain detained by Israeli forces, including al-Shifa Hospital director Muhammad Abu Salmiya.

WHO has reported a sharp uptick in acute respiratory infections, diarrhea, lice, scabies and other fast-spreading diseases.

“WHO and partners remain firmly committed to staying in Gaza and assisting the population,” said Richard Peeperkorn, WHO representative on the occupied Palestinian territory.

“But as hostilities increase across Gaza, aid falls short of needs. The humanitarian support system is on the verge of falling apart.”

“Northern Gaza looks like a wasteland,” he said. “The devastation is simply enormous. We were still surprised that we saw so many people who were in the streets, lying on the streets.”

Palestinian FM blasts Israel for using starvation as a weapon

The Palestinian Foreign Minister condemns Israel for using starvation as a weapon of war against Palestinians in Gaza.

The Palestinian foreign minister has condemned Israel for its deliberate use of starvation as a weapon of war against the Palestinians in the besieged Gaza Strip.

Maliki was speaking at a UN meeting in Geneva. He deplored the international community for inaction toward the situation in Gaza.

Palestinian diplomats warned of the condition that deprives the Palestinians of the most basic right afforded to all human beings.

At least 18,608 Palestinians, mostly women and children, have lost their lives since the war began.

SS