Written by: Nihal Abu Al-Saud Wednesday, December 13, 2023 08:00 PM
The Israeli army’s massacres in the occupied Palestinian territories are still continuing amid non-stop air strikes on the Gaza Strip for more than two months, causing a humanitarian crisis that has prompted health organizations and a number of countries to call for an immediate ceasefire while ignoring Tel Aviv, whose diplomatic isolation is increasing day by day.
Health officials and relief organizations said that infectious diseases are devastating the population Gaza Citing the cold, wet weather, overcrowded shelters, lack of food, clean water, and medicines, in addition to the fact that those suffering from diseases have almost non-existent treatment options amid the accumulation of the injured in hospitals due to the brutal Israeli bombing that has continued for more than two months now on the Gaza Strip.
According to the New York Times, the collapse of Gaza’s health system has made it difficult to track exact numbers. The World Health Organization has reported at least 369,000 cases of infectious diseases since the war began.
Even the extremely high figure announced by the World Health Organization fails to capture the scale of the crisis: Shannon Barclay, health systems team leader at WHO offices in Gaza and the West Bank, said the number does not include cases in northern Gaza, where the war has destroyed many buildings, The rest of the health system is exhausted.
Barclay added that the most common diseases spreading in Gaza are respiratory infections, which range from the common cold to pneumonia. She added that even usually mild diseases can pose serious risks to Palestinians, especially children, the elderly, and the immunocompromised, given the difficult living conditions.
The hospitals that are still operating are focusing on providing critical care to patients with severe injuries as a result of air strikes, according to Marie-Uri Berriot-Rival, emergency coordinator for Doctors Without Borders, who was speaking to the New York Times from Al-Aqsa Hospital in central Gaza. She added that many of these patients receive post-operative care in unsanitary conditions, leading to serious injuries.
She added that the primary health care system in central Gaza has completely collapsed, leaving those in need of basic medical care without treatment. “There is too much focus on the wounded and infected patients, but it is the entire health care system that has been leveled,” she said.
A World Health Organization official said that only 11 hospitals, or less than a third of Gaza’s hospitals, are still partially operating, calling for their protection.
The representative of the World Health Organization in the Palestinian Territories, Richard Peppercorn, said at a United Nations conference via video link from Gaza: “In just 66 days, the health system went from 36 operating hospitals to 11 partially functioning hospitals, one in the north and 10 in the south.”
He continued: “We cannot afford to lose any health care facilities or hospitals. We hope and pray that this does not happen,” according to Reuters.
In the same context, Reuters pointed to the increasing “diplomatic isolation” of Israel. In a joint statement, the heads of government of Australia, Canada, and New Zealand warned that the price of defeating the factions cannot be the continued suffering of all Palestinian civilians, expressing their concern about the shrinking safe space available for civilians in Gaza. “.
On the sidelines of a ministerial meeting in Brussels, European Union countries called for a truce in Israel’s war in Gaza to stop the “massacre.”
The leaders of Ireland, Spain, Malta and Belgium said in a letter they sent to the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, “We must immediately call on all parties to declare a humanitarian truce that leads to a cessation of hostilities.”
Upon his arrival in Brussels, Ireland’s Foreign Minister, Michael Martin, explained that this step aims to “stop the massacre and bloodshed of innocent civilians.”
A number of ministers also expressed their concern about the situation in the West Bank, where Israeli extremists killed dozens of Palestinians. Experts said: “The level of violence resorted to by Israeli settlers in the West Bank threatens a new explosion.”
2023-12-13 18:00:00
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