United Nations: Hospitals and other vital medical infrastructure in Gaza and the West Bank have been attacked nearly 600 times since Gaza-Israel war erupted, the UN health agency said.
Some 613 people have died within health facilities in the Occupied Palestinian Territory since 7 October last year – 606 in Gaza and seven in the West Bank – and more than 770 have been injured, according to latest data on healthcare attacks from the WHO.
Condemning the continuing fighting and bombardment, WHO spokesperson Christian Lindmeier said that the “ongoing reduction of humanitarian space plus the continuing attacks on healthcare are pushing the people of Gaza to breaking point”.
Children in the Gaza Strip face a deadly triple threat to their lives, as cases of diseases rise, nutrition plummets and the escalation in hostilities approaches its fourteenth week.
Thousands of children have already died from the violence, while living conditions for children continue to rapidly deteriorate, with increasing cases of diarrhoea and rising food poverty among children, raising the risk of mounting child deaths.
WHO’s online platform covering attacks on healthcare indicated 304 attacks in the Gaza Strip since 7 October. The attacks affected 94 health care facilities (including 26 hospitals damaged out of 36) and 79 ambulances.
In the West Bank, 286 attacks caused seven deaths and 52 injuries. Some 24 health facilities were affected along with 212 ambulances.
The head of the UN Children’s Fund UNICEF said in a statement that children in Gaza “are caught in a nightmare that worsens with every passing day”.
Catherine Russell noted that young lives are “increasingly at risk from preventable diseases and lack of food and water. All children and civilians must be protected from violence and have access to basic services and supplies.”
Cases of diarrhoea in children under five rose from 48,000 to 71,000 in just one week starting 17 December, equivalent to 3,200 new cases of diarrhea per day.
She said the significant increase indicated child health in Gaza is “fast deteriorating”. Before the escalation in hostilities, an average of 2,000 cases of diarrhea in children under five were recorded per month.
Meanwhile, the UN agency providing help to Palestinians,UNRWA said that the total number of staff killed since the beginning of hostilities stands at 142.
The UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees also reported that since 7 October last year, up to 1.9 million people have been displaced across the Gaza Strip, some multiple times.
This number represents over 85 per cent of the population of the Gaza Strip, UNRWA said, adding that families have been forced to move repeatedly in search of safety.
Nearly 1.4 million internally displaced persons (IDPs) now shelter in 155 UNRWA facilities across all five governorates of the Gaza Strip.
This figure includes 160,000 in the north and Gaza City according to data last revised shortly after the escalation began.
Another 500,000 people “are in close vicinity of these installations and receiving assistance” from UNRWA, the UN agency said in an update.
The UN’s migration agency IOM launched an urgent appeal for $69 million to support its response to rising and critical humanitarian needs in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
The appeal also covers neighbouring countries affected by the ongoing hostilities in Gaza.
In a statement, IOM said that hundreds of thousands of civilians need aid desperately. But getting help to them continues to be hampered by “long clearance procedures for humanitarian aid trucks at the border (and) the intense ground operation and fighting”.
“Frequent disruption” to communication networks has also prevented humanitarian aid coordination, the UN agency said “along with insecurity, blocked roads and scarcity of fuel”.
Outside Gaza, IOM noted that deteriorating security situation along border areas between Israel and Lebanon has forced some 76,000 people from their homes in southern Lebanon.
