According to UNICEF, cases of diarrhea in children under five years of age rose from 48,000 to 71,000 in just one week starting 17 December. This is equivalent to 3,200 new cases of diarrhea per day. Before the escalation in hostilities, an average of 2,000 cases of diarrhea in children under five were recorded per month. It has been reported that displaced children and adults are unable to maintain the necessary hygiene levels, with some resorting to open defecation. The inability to prevent diseases is attributed to the lack of safe water and sanitation due to damaged or destroyed essential water and sanitation systems in the Gaza Strip. Additionally, UNRWA reported that diaper supplies are not sufficient, as they cover only 25 per cent of the babies in shelters.
On 5 January, the Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, stated that “the humanitarian community has been left with the impossible mission of supporting more than 2 million people, even as its own staff are being killed and displaced, as communication blackouts continue, as roads are damaged and convoys are shot at, and as commercial supplies vital to survival are almost non-existent... medical facilities are under relentless attacks while they are overwhelmed with trauma cases, critically short of all supplies and inundated by desperate people seeking safety.”
read the full report: Hostilities in the Gaza Strip and Israel | Flash Update #85
About 90 per cent of children under two in Gaza are consuming two or fewer food groups, a UNICEF survey has found. One in every four pregnant or breastfeeding women consumed only one food group the day before the survey. The risk of famine is increasing every day. Photo by UNRWA
