Infectious diseases 'exploding' in Gaza as healthcare collapses: Oxfam
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Waterborne and infectious diseases are spreading rapidly in the Gaza Strip amid the lack of safe water and untreated sewage overflowing in the streets.
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Pediatrician Tanya Haj Hassan examines wounded children at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah in central Gaza on March 16, 2024. (AP)
Oxfam has documented an outbreak of waterborne and infectious illnesses in the Gaza Strip due to a shortage of adequate water and untreated sewage overflowing the streets following "Israel's" genocidal war on the Strip.
The organization quoted a World Health Organization research that revealed that 88% of environmental samples studied across Gaza were infected with polio, "signaling an imminent risk of outbreak."
According to Oxfam, infectious diseases, such as acute watery diarrhea and respiratory infections, are now the leading causes of mortality, with 46,000 cases recorded each week, the majority of them involving children.
Chickenpox and skin diseases like scabies and impetigo are also rapidly spreading, particularly among displaced Palestinians in Northern Gaza, where there is a serious water shortage.
According to Clémence Lagouardat, Oxfam's humanitarian coordinator in Gaza, "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."
This comes as the Gaza Ministry of Health reported that hospitals are experiencing "a severe lack of oxygen" that is endangering patients' lives.
The ministry stated that Israeli occupation forces destroyed ten key oxygen production plants during the war.
According to the ministry, the assaults have hit important medical institutions such as "al-Shifa Medical Complex, al-Rantisi Hospital, al-Durra Hospital, the Indonesian Hospital, al-Nasr Medical Complex, and the Sheikh Radwan Clinic."
The ten damaged stations provided oxygen to "critical hospital units such as operating rooms, intensive care units, emergency wards, and neonatal incubators, as well as patients receiving home care."
Healthcare destruction key point in Israeli Gaza genocide: Abu Sitta
In early February, British-Palestinian surgeon Ghassan Abu Sitta revealed that Israeli authorities viewed the destruction of medical centers and the healthcare system in the Gaza Strip as groundwork for genocide in the Strip.
The surgeon noted that the demolition of the healthcare system in Palestine was the core of the Israeli doctrine from the start, detailing how it was done to "make the Gaza Strip uninhabitable."
According to Abu Sitta, the occupation had the intention of destroying the entire system, detailing how 33 out of 36 hospitals providing services were destroyed.
Abu Sitta emphasized that "Israel killed a thousand healthcare workers, doctors, nurses, and lab technicians to eliminate an entire generation of healthcare professionals."
The doctor stated that Israeli occupation forces damaged Gaza's healthcare infrastructure by destroying water treatment and sanitation facilities. Additionally, they ruined inhabitants' homes, making them more susceptible to infectious illnesses.
He stressed that "Israel" views the devastation of Gaza's healthcare sector as a forerunner to the genocidal agenda.
"I do not know of any war in modern history where the systematic destruction of the healthcare system was central to the doctrine of the warring armies, but the destruction of the healthcare system played a pivotal role in disrupting life in Gaza from Israel’s perspective," Abu Sitta stated.
The British-Palestinian doctor emphasized the need to hold Israeli officials, troops, and politicians accountable in The Hague for the damage of Gaza's healthcare system.
