WHO warns of public health catastrophe in Gaza – 10/31/2023 – Balance and Health

A “public health catastrophe” is imminent in Gaza, the WHO (World Health Organization) said on Tuesday (31), amid overcrowding, mass displacement and damage to the area’s water and sanitation infrastructure.

The organization’s spokesman, Christian Lindmeier, warned of the risk of civilian deaths not directly related to Israeli bombings.

“It’s an imminent public health catastrophe looming with mass displacement, overcrowding, damage to water and sanitation infrastructure,” Lindmeier said.

Gaza health authorities say more than 8,300 Palestinians have been killed since Israel began air strikes on the Hamas-controlled enclave in response to the Oct. 7 attacks, when Hamas killed 1,400 people in Israel and took more than 200 hostages.

Israeli military forces began ground operations in Gaza last week.

Asked whether people were dying from complications other than those caused by the bombings, Lindmeier said: “Indeed they are.”

A spokesman for the UN children’s agency, James Elder, warned of the risk of babies dying from dehydration, with water production at 5% of normal levels.

“So child deaths from dehydration, especially infant deaths from dehydration, are a growing threat,” he said, adding that children were getting sick from drinking salt water.

Some 940 children are missing in Gaza, he said, with some of them presumed trapped under the rubble.

The UN humanitarian office said in a statement that water supplies to southern Gaza were interrupted on October 30 “for unknown reasons.”

Lindmeier called for the fuel to be allowed into Gaza to enable a desalination plant to operate. Israel has blockaded the Gaza Strip and refuses to allow fuel supplies to enter, claiming they could be used by Hamas for military purposes.