“Imminent risk of outbreak”: Gaza faces surge in waterborne, infectious diseases, advocacy group warns
Palestinian children play amid the rubble at a park destroyed during Israel's military offensive, during Eid al-Fitr, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, in Gaza City April 11, 2024. REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
The humanitarian crisis in Gaza has escalated further, with waterborne and infectious diseases spreading rapidly due to a severe lack of clean water and overflowing untreated sewage, Oxfam reports.
Citing a study by the World Health Organization, the advocacy group highlighted that 88 percent of environmental samples tested across Gaza were contaminated with polio, posing an “imminent risk of outbreak.”
Infectious diseases, including acute watery diarrhea and respiratory infections—now the leading causes of death—are surging, with 46,000 cases reported weekly, mostly affecting children.
Compounding the crisis, chickenpox, scabies, and impetigo are spreading rapidly, particularly among displaced communities in North Gaza, where access to clean water remains critically low.
“Rebuilding water and sanitation is vital for Gaza to have a path to normalcy after 15 months of horror. The ceasefire must hold and fuel and aid must flow so that Palestinians can rebuild their lives,” said Lagouardat, Oxfam’s humanitarian coordinator in Gaza.
Meanwhile, Gaza’s Health Ministry has so far confirmed 48,291 Palestinian deaths in the Israeli war on Gaza, while 111,722 people have been wounded.
The Government Media Office updated its death toll to at least 61,709 people, saying thousands of Palestinians missing under the rubble are now presumed dead.
On the Israeli side, 1,139 people were killed during the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led attacks and more than 200 taken hostage.
