1 of 5 | The International Rescue Committee warned Thursday Gaza civilians are facing an imminent infectious disease outbreak due to lack of fuel and water. The IRC said the health system is collapsing. Palestinians receive portion of food at a make-shift charity kitchen in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, on Wednesday. Photo by Ismael Mohamad/UPI | License Photo
International observers on Thursday warned that nearly 1.5 million civilians displaced by Israel’s attack on Gaza face a collapsing healthcare system with almost no access to safe water.
The International Rescue Committee warned that diseases like cholera and typhoid “will inevitably spread ” due to the lack of clean water and access to proper sanitation and hygiene. Advertisement
“The humanitarian suffering in Gaza has already reached catastrophic levels, and it’s set to get worse unless something changes immediately,” said IRC VP of Emergencies Bob Kitchen in a statement. “While the overwhelming driver of mortality remains the ongoing violence and destruction, a humanitarian cease-fire now would also serve to help aid agencies get ahead of a looming public health crisis within an already vast humanitarian crisis.”
IRC said 95% of Gaza’s population has no access to safe water and 64% of primary health care facilities have shut.
The World Health Organization on Wednesday warned that basic infection control is almost impossible as healthcare workers themselves can acquire and transmit infections in overwhelmed hospitals as they try to provide care.
“Lack of fuel has led to the shutting down of desalination plants, significantly increasing the risk of bacterial infections like diarrhea spreading as people consume contaminated water,” the WHO said in a statement. “Lack of fuel has also disrupted all solid waste collection, creating an environment conducive to the rapid and widespread proliferation of insects, rodents that can carry and transit diseases.” Advertisement
Both organizations reiterated their calls for a humanitarian cease-fire, however Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu this week reiterated that he would not sign off on a cease-fire without the release of hostages taken by Hamas instead offering “tactical little pauses” that have allowed thousands of civilians to make their way out of Gaza for hours at a time.
Israel’s relentless bombardments combined with ongoing combat between Hamas and Israel on the ground have killed more than 10,000 Palestinians in Gaza, including thousands of women and children, according to the Hamas-run Palestinian Ministry of Health.
UNICEF said in a statement that it has confidence in the health ministry’s death toll because historically it has matched UNICEF’s numbers, which are carefully compiled.
“Our numbers were within a couple of percent of that, almost identical. We don’t have that concern based on past history,” UNICEF spokesperson James Elder told CNN.
Israel attacked Gaza following the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israeli military installations and civilian settlements that included the slaughter of unarmed civilians. More than 1400 Israelis were killed, including over 300 soldiers, while more than 240 Israelis were abducted and taken to Gaza by Hamas. Advertisement
