UNRWA: Heat, Raw Sewage and Trash Escalate Public Health Crisis in Gaza
More than 30 vehicles essential for waste management, water supply and sewage maintenance were destroyed by Israeli airstrikes between April 21 and 22.
UNRWA has warned of an increasingly dire situation in the Gaza Strip with malnourished children and families battling unrelenting heat, unsanitary conditions, a lack of clean water, and limited access to healthcare as Israel continues to block aid and medical supplies.
In the makeshift coastal encampments of Al-Mawasi, the “trash is just out of control. The sewage, the rodents, the pests, the rats, the mice – all of these animals are going between the structures that people are sheltering in,” Louise Wateridge, UNRWA’s Senior Emergency Officer, said in a UN News report on Wednesday.
Wateridge pointed out that families have no choice but to live in unsanitary conditions that are rapidly turning deadly.
She said that as the days heat up, “disease is spreading” and there is “not enough medicine.”
The UNRWA official warned that the agency’s resources in Gaza were running out, with “about 10 days left of pesticides.”
The worsening conditions are being compounded by the destruction of Gaza’s public health infrastructure, the UN News report added.
Airstrikes Destroy Vital Vehicles
According to the UN humanitarian coordination office (OCHA), more than 30 vehicles essential for waste management, water supply, and sewage maintenance were destroyed by Israeli airstrikes between April 21 and 22, the report noted.
In the past week alone, at least 23 reported strikes have hit tents sheltering internally displaced persons (IDPs), “killing dozens of civilians – including women, children, and persons with disabilities.”
OCHA also noted that Gaza’s health system is continuing to collapse, with over half of the remaining health facilities located in zones under evacuation orders.
This, the report noted, posed serious access challenges for communities in urgent need, amid already widespread shortages of medicine, equipment and medical staff.
As of 15 April, an estimated 420,000 people have been displaced – many for the second or third time.
Aid Denied, Canceled
The report said that vital humanitarian aid has not entered Gaza for 52 consecutive days.
OCHA noted that “between 15 and 21 April, nearly half of the planned humanitarian movements were denied or impeded.”
It reported that out of 42 planned aid missions across the Gaza Strip that were coordinated with the Israeli authorities, 20 were denied, two faced impediments, 19 were facilitated and one was cancelled, the report added.
Meanwhile, UN agencies also have to contend with lack of funds to sustain their programmes.
As of 22 April, “donors have disbursed about $569 million out of the $4.07 billion (about 14 per cent) required” to meet the most critical humanitarian needs of three million people requiring assistance in Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, the report stated.
Staggering Death Toll
Since Israel’s reneging on the ceasefire on March 18, it has killed and wounded thousands of Palestinians throughout the Gaza Strip through a bloody and ongoing aerial bombardment.
On October 7, 2023, following a Palestinian Resistance operation in southern Israel, the Israeli military launched a genocidal war against the Palestinians, killing over 51,000, wounding more than 116,000, with over 14,000 still missing.
Despite habitual condemnation by many countries around the world of the Israeli genocide, little has been done to hold Israel accountable.
The Israeli genocide has been largely defended, supported, and financed by Washington and a few other Western powers.
Israel is currently under investigation for the crime of genocide by the International Court of Justice, while accused war criminals — including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu — are now officially wanted by the International Criminal Court.
