A spokesperson from the World Health Organization (WHO) stated on Tuesday that the Gaza Strip faces a potential higher death toll from diseases than from bombings if its ailing health system is not urgently restored.
Gaza health authorities, recognized by the United Nations, report that more than 15,000 individuals have been confirmed dead due to Israel’s bombardment, with children comprising about 40% of the casualties. Grimly, many more are feared dead, buried under the rubble of the airstrikes.
Israel has vowed to eliminate Hamas, the governing militant group in Gaza, following an incident on Oct. 7 where Hamas gunmen breached the fence, resulting in around 1,200 deaths and the capture of 240 individuals.
Margaret Harris from the WHO delivered a stark message at a U.N. briefing in Geneva, emphasizing the urgent need to rebuild Gaza’s health system. She cautioned that without restoration, more lives might be claimed by diseases than by the ongoing bombardment.
Citing a U.N. report on displaced residents in northern Gaza, Harris highlighted the lack of essential resources, including medicines, vaccinations, safe water, and hygiene, contributing to a surge in cases of diarrhoea, especially among infants.
Harris described the collapse of Al Shifa Hospital in northern Gaza as a “tragedy” and expressed worry about the detention of medical staff by Israeli forces during a WHO evacuation convoy.
James Elder, a spokesperson from the U.N. Children’s Agency in Gaza, revealed that hospitals are overwhelmed with children suffering from war wounds and gastroenteritis due to consuming contaminated water. The dire lack of access to safe water is described as crippling for families in the region.
