UNITED NATIONS, July 12 (IPS) – More than two million people have been forced to flee the Gaza Strip in the nine months since the Israeli-Hamas conflict began. The ongoing fighting and displacement has left humanitarian organizations on the ground struggling to meet even basic health needs.
The UN and other humanitarian organizations have stressed that the health system in Gaza has collapsed or is under extreme pressure as a result of the fighting. Of the 36 hospitals in the area, 13 remain open but are only partially functioning.
This includes Nasser Hospital, the last hospital currently providing comprehensive medical services, which was overflowing with patients after Israeli authorities ordered the evacuation of eastern and southern Khan Yunis on July 1. Patients and medical staff working at the Gaza European Hospital in Khan Yunis were evacuated in advance.
Israel Defense Forces officials said patients and medical personnel were exempt from the evacuation order, but this was not communicated to humanitarian organizations on the ground.
Andrea de Domenico, head of the UN-OCHA office in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, told reporters in a virtual press conference on July 3 that OCHA had not been notified. He said those evacuated were likely acting in response to past experiences when hospitals were specifically targeted by airstrikes or military bombardments, and that they had taken preemptive measures to evacuate before Israeli forces moved into Khan Yunis.
As a World Health Organization (WHO) spokesperson told IPS, evacuation orders have a devastating impact on fragile health infrastructure by disrupting the functioning of health facilities within and near evacuation zones. This hinders access for both health care providers and patients, compromising the effectiveness and security of humanitarian operations. Furthermore, it only increases the burden on other hospitals currently tasked with accommodating patients in evacuation areas.
Nasser Hospital, one of the remaining hospitals providing comprehensive care, is operating at capacity with limited supplies amid the destruction surrounding the area, which WHO field staff described as “indescribable.” The area around the hospital is covered in heavy layers of debris and destroyed buildings, and there is not a single intact road. The paediatric ward has received more than 120 patients since July 5, despite having a capacity of 56 beds.
According to Doctors Without Borders (DWB), they are operating despite a shortage of medical supplies and are responsible for sterilizing equipment in field hospitals around the area. Despite the dire need for supplies, DWB trucks and convoys carrying these supplies have not been able to enter Gaza since April. As recently as July 3, trucks were denied entry due to ongoing fighting in the south.
“Overall, it’s a comprehensive problem, from a lack of hospital beds and medical supplies to a lack of surgeons. With another hospital closing, patients’ lives are at greater risk,” said Javid Abdelmoneim, a medical team leader at Nasser Hospital.
The ongoing problem of limiting the entry of life-saving supplies into Gaza has affected the work of humanitarian organizations on the ground, including the UN. As a WHO spokesperson told IPS, their trucks were unable to pass through the Karem Shalom border crossing last week because of the closure.
Fuel has been identified as essential to the functioning of health facilities and support activities, but shortages are widespread. A WHO spokesperson said hospitals have had to work with limited fuel, electricity and solar power, which only hinders the group’s ability to function properly.
Power outages in neonatal/intensive care units and dialysis units put patients at serious risk. Fuel shortages are also affecting the water and sanitation sector, which needs at least 70,000 litres of fuel per day, but has received less than 10% of its needs in the past few weeks.
Only 500,000 litres of fuel arrived in the first week of July, compared to 2 million litres in June, but humanitarian organizations say this is only a fraction of the fuel needed to sustain humanitarian, health and WASH operations. At least 400,000 litres are needed per day.
Waterborne diseases and upper respiratory infections have spread due to factors such as accumulated garbage and sewage and lack of clean water. According to WHO, cases of diarrhea, lice and scabies, skin rashes, impetigo and chickenpox have been reported since mid-October 2023.
“A healthy body can fight off disease more easily, but a weak and frail body struggles and becomes more vulnerable,” a WHO spokesperson told IPS.
Meanwhile, the Gaza Strip is suffering from severe food insecurity. Since the war began, food insecurity has been a major concern for humanitarian workers in the region and around the world.
The Integrated Phase Classification (IPC) Special Brief Acute Food Insecurity estimates that 96% of the Gaza population, or 2.15 million people, will experience extreme levels of food insecurity between June 16 and September 30, including more than 495,000 people facing catastrophic food insecurity. More than half of households reported having no food at home at all times, and more than 20% went whole days without eating. Violence and repeated displacement challenged people’s ability to cope and access humanitarian assistance.
This situation is exacerbated when humanitarian workers are forced to relocate and relocate their operations for their own safety. Domenico said that the constant movement leaves warehouses containing fuel and supplies abandoned. For UN agencies such as OCHA and its partners, humanitarian operations can be seen as a parameter of operations that are (or should be) protected from military activity. Their presence is likely to signal to people that it is safe to be there and that their basic needs will be met.
According to the Ministry of Health, 34 people have died from malnutrition and dehydration so far. The WHO said 28 of the dead were children. The independent expert group warned that famine was widespread across the Gaza Strip, and that there have been recent cases of children dying from starvation and malnutrition, one of whom was six months old.
“The fact that children are starving to death in central Gaza despite access to medical care leaves no doubt that famine has spread from northern Gaza to central and southern Gaza,” the experts said in a joint statement.
The IPC Special Report states that only a cessation of armed conflict and sustained and uninterrupted humanitarian intervention can reduce the risk of famine. Humanitarian organizations have struggled to maintain operations while hostilities continue in the Gaza Strip, displacing and endangering more than a million civilians, and humanitarian workers have continued to provide life-saving assistance across the border, risking their lives. Despite international condemnation and repeated calls for a ceasefire, military violence has continued.
Organizations such as WHO and Doctors Without Borders have worked with health partners and agencies on the ground, such as UNRWA, to provide primary health care, support vaccination campaigns, and deploy emergency medical teams. But as WHO points out, these efforts can only support health systems, not replace them.
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© Inter Press Service (2024) — All rights reservedOriginal Source: Inter Press Service
