UNICEFUnited Nations Children’s Fund, issued a statement from Deir al-Balah in central Gaza, where Untreated wastewater flows out and forms large puddles on the road. next to the shelter for displaced people.
“The streets were flooded with sewage,” UNICEF spokesman Salim Oweis said he highlighted the destruction of Gaza’s water and sanitation networks, as well as wastewater treatment plants, since the war broke out on October 7, following Hamas-led terrorist attacks in Israel.
Daily threat of disease
Diarrhea and skin rashes continue to affect Gazans, who have been repeatedly forced to flee their homes and shelters, amid growing calls for a ceasefire to allow for the delivery of oral polio vaccines after traces of the disease were detected in sewage in June and confirmed in July, according to UNICEF.
It is understood that No one in this land has been vaccinated against polio..
The development comes as the Israeli military ordered the evacuation of several areas in the southern city of Khan Younis on Sunday, citing “significant terrorist activity and exploitation” of the self-designated “humanitarian zone”, including rocket fire towards Israel from the Aljalaa area.
Evacuation circumstances
UNRWAThe UN’s aid agency for Palestinian refugees, has highlighted the impact of “multiple” evacuation orders issued since last Thursday on Gaza’s most vulnerable individuals in Khan Younis, some of the estimated 75,000 people believed to have been displaced:
“There was an old man trying his best to push his electric wheelchair, which kept getting stuck in the sand.”, said Louise Wateridge, senior communications officer at UNRWA. United Nations News.
“He had very little stuff on the scooter… He was pushing it through this horrible sandy road and some young guys kept coming to help him dig it out of the sand to keep pushing it. But you could see the exhaustion and the struggle he was going through.”
After more than 10 months of war, Gazans remain desperate for clean water, food and medical assistance, while temperatures remain dangerous, Ms Wateridge said.
“These people, they lost everything. They didn’t seem to take much with them. Children are dragging empty water jugs because it is one of the most precious things. Now anything you can hold water in is one of your most precious possessions… There are mattresses that are brought in, plastic cans and empty water cans and not much else, because people can only really carry what they can, in their hands.”
UNRWA officers explained that families continue to seek shelter in some areas of Deir al-Bala in central Gaza and western Khan Younis further south.
“Both areas are already overcrowded, have very little shelter and services available and are unlikely to be able to cope with the influx of more people,” Ms Wateridge stressed.
