The UN Coordination Office for Humanitarian Affairs, OCHA, said many areas in the enclave have been flooded, “exacerbating the struggles of displaced Palestinians”, while UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini was expected to brief journalists in Geneva on the situation on Thursday, following his most recent visit to Gaza.
Nearly 1.9 million people in the enclave have been uprooted by the violence and more than half have sought safety in the southern city of Rafah. The UN Palestine Refugee Agency (UNRWA) shelters in the south of the Gaza Strip are nine times their capacity and dozens of people are living outdoors, exposed to the harsh weather, or in makeshift shelters.
Water and sanitation emergency
OCHA said sewage cannot be managed in the overcrowded shelters. Combined with the flooding and the build-up of waste, the conditions have attracted insects, mosquitoes and rats, further increasing the risk of spreading disease.
Earlier this week, Gaza health authorities said they had documented 360,000 cases of infectious diseases in shelters and that the actual numbers could be higher.
Meanwhile, humanitarian partners providing water, sanitation and hygiene support to the people of Gaza reported on Wednesday that there is an urgent need for construction materials to repair damaged water pipes.
“The inability to carry out repairs could lead to water cuts in certain areas in southern Gaza,” OCHA said.
The hospital raid continues
The Kamal Adwan Hospital, in Beit Lahiya, north of Gaza City, was raided by Israeli forces for a second day in a row on Wednesday, OCHA said, “with reports of mass arrests and abuse of people in their custody.”
According to OCHA, five doctors and all female staff detained the previous day have been released, but the hospital director and around 70 other medical staff “remain detained at an unknown location outside the hospital”. UN health agency WHO expressed concern about the raid and urged the protection of patients and staff at the hospital.
Women and girls are disproportionately affected
Independent rights experts appointed by the UN sounded the alarm on Thursday about the “tragic consequences” of the conflict for women and girls in the occupied Palestinian territories and Israel.
The experts, including members of the Working Group on Discrimination against Women and Girls, expressed serious concern about the hostage taking of Israeli women and girls by Hamas during the October 7 terrorist attacks and about “increasing allegations of sexual violence committed by Hamas and other armed groups against women and girls in Israel” that day, calling for the claims to be investigated and the perpetrators held accountable.
The experts also lamented the disastrous consequences of the conflict on the health, education and livelihoods of women and girls in the Gaza Strip. Since October 7, 2,784 women in Gaza have become widows and new heads of households.
Independent experts appointed by the UN have their mandate from the Human Rights Council and are not UN staff members, nor do they receive a salary for their work.
