From November 29 to December 10, cases of diarrhea among children under five in the Gaza Strip increased by 66 percent and among the rest of the population by 55 percent. Thousands of minors are suffering from dehydration due to the shortage of drinking water. And after more than two months of war and precarious living conditions to say the least, cases of hepatitis A are increasing. The situation report prepared by the World Health Organization and doctors leaves no doubt about the impending dangers to the health of Palestinian civilians in Gaza. However, the numbers are underestimated due to the war-related collapse of the health system: 21 of Gaza's 36 hospitals are closed, 11 are partially functioning and four can only provide minimal services. Simply put, for Israeli bomb survivors, disease could prove to be an equally deadly cause of death. Lack of food, clean water and shelter has weakened the defenses of hundreds of thousands of people who are now exposed to epidemics. In recent days, wind and rain have destroyed many tents in Rafah, on the border with Egypt. The floods forced people to spend the cold night hours on the wet sand.
Marie-Aure Perreaut, Médecins Sans Frontières emergency service coordinator in Gaza, warns that respiratory and skin infections are on the rise. “I fear that dysentery will spread throughout the Gaza Strip, and unfortunately neither the Ministry of Health nor humanitarian organizations will be able to respond adequately.” Dysentery and severe diarrhea, experts say, could kill as many children as Israeli ones Bombings have killed so far. A widespread diarrhea epidemic could occur in the next few weeks if hundreds of trucks carrying humanitarian aid are not allowed into the Gaza Strip every day and clean water is provided to the Palestinian civilian population.
Doctors at Abu Yousef al-Najjar Hospital in Rafah report that hundreds of people are falling victim to infections and communicable diseases due to the conditions in which they live in overcrowded accommodation. “Children drink water that is actually not drinkable. There are no fruits and vegetables, we have a vitamin deficiency and anemia due to malnutrition,” explains Dr. Nasser Al Farra. Newborns also suffer from the lack of clean water to mix with formula. Lack of access to sufficient food leads to waste, which in turn increases people's susceptibility to many diseases. The World Food Program said Monday that 83% of people who have moved to southern Gaza are not eating enough. During the ceasefire in late November, around 200 aid trucks per day entered the Gaza Strip, but since then the number has fallen to 100 and the Israeli offensive is preventing distribution in all southern districts, while in the north and Gaza City, where they live, Although there are still over 200,000 Palestinians, deliveries of basic necessities are only occasional and are largely inadequate.
To avoid epidemics, the hospitals and health centers that are still operating should be treating people for these diseases, but they are overwhelmed by the constant arrival of wounded from air strikes and artillery fire. Under these conditions, around two thousand cancer patients who can no longer be treated risk their lives. There are dozens of children among them. Previously, they were able to visit the NGO PCRF's pediatric oncology department at Rantisi Hospital in Gaza City, which was evacuated last month on orders from the Israeli army. Now these children are left to their fate amidst their parents' despair.