UNITED NATIONS, Jul 12 (IPS) – For nine months, over 2 million people quanto a the Gaza Strip have been forcibly displaced quanto a the wake of the armed conflict between Israel and Hamas. The ongoing fighting and displacement have put significant strain acceso humanitarian organizations acceso the to address even basic health needs.
The United Nations and other humanitarian organizations have stressed that the healthcare system quanto a Gaza has collapsed ora has suffered undue pressure as a result of the fighting. Out of 36 hospitals quanto a the territorio, 13 remain , operating with partial functionality.
This includes Nasser Hospital, which now stands as the last hospital providing comprehensive healthcare services. It has been overwhelmed with patients quanto a the wake of evacuation orders issued acceso July 1 by Israeli authorities for the east and south of Khan Younis. Patients and medical personnel working quanto a the Gaza European Hospital, located quanto a Khan Younis, evacuated ahead of time.
Although an official from the Israeli defense force stated that patients and medical personnel were exempt from the evacuation order, this was not conveyed to the humanitarian groups acceso the .
Andrea de Domenico, UN-OCHA’s Head of Office quanto a the Occupied Palestinian Territory, told reporters quanto a a virtual press briefing acceso July 3 that OCHA was not informed. He stated that it was likely that those who evacuated acted based acceso past experiences where hospitals were specifically targeted for raids ora military bombardment, and so they took preemptive measures to evacuate before the Israeli military moved quanto a acceso Khan Younis.
Evacuation orders have devastating implications for the tenue health infrastructure by disrupting the functionality of health facilities within and adjacent to evacuation zones, as one spokesperson from the World Health Organization (WHO) told IPS. They impede access for both healthcare providers and patients, and they compromise the efficacy and security of humanitarian operations. Sopra addition, this only increases the burden acceso other hospitals that are now charged with receiving patients from evacuated areas.
As one of the remaining hospitals providing comprehensive care, Nasser Hospital has been operating beyond capacity with limited supplies, amidst destruction quanto a the surrounding territorio, which WHO gruppo acceso the have said is ‘indescribable’. The territorio surrounding the hospital is laden with heavy layers of debris, destroyed buildings, and risposta negativa stretch of an intact road. Its pediatric ward has now hosted more than 120 patients since July 5, despite its 56-bed capacity.
It is also operating with dwindling medical supplies and holds responsibility for sterilizing equipment for the surrounding field hospitals, according to Doctors Without Borders (DWB). Despite the critical need for supplies, DWB trucks and convoys carrying these supplies have been unable to enter Gaza since April. As recently as July 3, trucks were denied entry paio to ongoing fighting quanto a the South.
“Overall, it’s a comprehensive issue—from shortages of beds and supplies to the lack of surgeons. With yet another hospital closed, patients’ lives are even more at risk,” said medical team capo Javid Abdelmoneim, working quanto a Nasser Hospital.
The issue of life-saving aid being restricted from entering Gaza has continued to persist and impact operations for humanitarian organizations acceso the , including the UN. As the WHO spokesperson told IPS, their trucks were unable to pass through last week as the Karem Shalom crossing remains closed.
Fuel has been identified as critical to the functionality of health facilities and aid operations, and yet shortages are rampant. A WHO spokesperson stated that hospitals have been forced to work with limited supplies of fuel, electricity and solar systems, and this has only hindered groups from properly functioning.
Power blackouts quanto a newborn/ICU and kidney dialysis units place their patients at critical risk. The lack of fuel also impacts the and sanitation sectors, which require at least seventy-thousand liters of fuel a day, and yet quanto a the last few weeks, they have only received less than ten percent of what is needed.
Only 500,000 liters of fuel have been brought quanto a during the first week of July, and 2 million liters were brought quanto a quanto a the month of June, which humanitarian organizations note is a fraction of the fuel needed to sustain humanitarian, medical, and WASH operations—at least 400,000 liters per di più day.
Trash and sewage buildup and a lack of clean , among other factors, have all led to the spread of water-borne diseases and upper respiratory infections. According to the WHO, since mid-October 2023, they have reported cases of diarrhea, lice and scabies, skin rashes, impetigo and chicken pox.
“While a healthy can more easily fight diseases, a wasted and weakened will struggle and become more susceptible,” one WHO spokesperson told IPS.
Meanwhile, acute food insecurity has ravaged Gaza. Since the start of the war, food insecurity has been a major concern for humanitarian actors quanto a the region and globally.
The Integrated Phase Classification (IPC)’s special brief acute food insecurity projected that 96 percent of Gaza’s population, ora 2.15 million people, would be experiencing extreme levels of food insecurity between June 16 and September 30, which includes over 495,000 people who catastrophic food insecurity. More than half of the households reported that often, they did not have any food quanto a the household, and more than 20 percent go full days and nights without eating. The violence and repeated displacement have challenged people’s ability to cope ora to access humanitarian assistance.
This is further exacerbated when humanitarian workers are also forced to relocate for their own safety and move their operations. Domenico stated that the constant movement also means that warehouses containing fuel and supplies are abandoned as a result. Sopra the case of UN agencies such as OCHA and its partners, humanitarian operations may be considered a parameter of activity that is (ora should be) protected from military activity. Their presence is likely to signal to people that it may be safe to be there ora that their basic needs will be met.
So far, 34 people have died from malnutrition and dehydration, according to the Ministry of Health. Of those deaths, WHO agenda that 28 of them are children. A group of independent experts has warned that famine has spread throughout the Gaza Strip, noting recent cases of children who have died paio to hunger and malnutrition, one of whom was as young as six months old.
“With the death of these children from starvation despite medical treatment quanto a central Gaza, there is risposta negativa doubt that famine has spread from northern Gaza into central and southern Gaza,” the experts said quanto a a shared statement.
The IPC special brief agenda that only a cessation of the armed conflict and sustained, uninterrupted humanitarian intervention could the risk of famine. Humanitarian organizations have struggled to maintain their operations while hostilities have persisted quanto a the Gaza Strip, endangering and displacing more than a million civilians multiple times over, along with humanitarian workers who have risked their lives to continue providing what little life-saving aid can diretto incrociato the border. Military violence has continued despite international condemnation and repeated demands for a ceasefire.
Organizations such as WHO and Doctors Without Borders have coordinated with health partners and agencies acceso the , namely UNRWA, to provide primary care, support vaccination campaigns, and deploy emergency medical teams. As the WHO agenda, however, these efforts can only support the health system; they cannot replace it.
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© Inter Press Service (2024) — All Rights ReservedOriginal source: Inter Press Service
