Warning the world about the worsening humanitarian situation in Gaza, the UN’s Palestinian refugee agency on Monday said that the densely populated territory “is being strangled.” The UNRWA said that Gazans are facing severe shortages of water, food, and medicine, as an increasing number of people seek refuge in their schools and facilities in the southern region.
This comes as hundreds of thousands of people sought to comply with Israel’s order to evacuate the northern part of the Palestinian enclave, as it prepares for an impending military operation, following the October 7 Hamas assault. The war that began on October 7 has become the deadliest of five Gaza wars for both sides, with more than 4,000 dead. The Gaza Health Ministry said 2,670 Palestinians have been killed. At the same time, over 1,400 Israelis have been killed, including women and children.
Our latest on the situation in the#GazaStrip ⬇️For the fifth consecutive day #Gaza has had no electricity.
People have severely limited access to
clean drinking water– serious concerns over the spread of waterborne diseases.https://t.co/pA9v3H6bDQ pic.twitter.com/6WeOqFVEux— UNRWA (@UNRWA) October 16, 2023
‘Gaza is running out of life’
“If we look at the issue of water — we all know water is life — Gaza is running out of water, and Gaza is running out of life,” said Philippe Lazzarini, the commissioner-general of UNRWA at a press conference in Jerusalem on Sunday, according to The Associated Press. “Soon, I believe, with this there will be no food or medicine either,” he said. “Last week’s attack on Israel was horrendous,” he said. “The attack and the taking of hostages are a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law. But the answer to killing civilians cannot be to kill more civilians.”
In its latest update, UNRWA said Gaza was without electricity for the fifth consecutive day. Gazans have severely limited access to drinking water. As a last resort, “people are consuming brackish water from agricultural wells, triggering serious concerns over the spread of waterborne diseases. ”
According to UN estimates, at least 1 million people were forced to flee their homes in the previous week. At least 400,000 displaced people are crammed into UNRWA schools and buildings, and most are not equipped as emergency shelters. The UN agency said that conditions in the densely populated enclave are “unsanitary and appalling.”
“Despite the Israeli Forces’ evacuation order, an unknown number of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) remain in UNRWA schools in the North. UNRWA is no longer able to assist or protect,” the UN agency said. According to the health cluster, there are a total of 3,500 hospital beds in Gaza. Evacuation orders apply to 23 hospitals in Gaza and north Gaza, with the capacity of 2,000 beds. “The number of killed is increasing. There are not enough body-bags for the dead in Gaza,” the UN agency said.
(With agency inputs)