Salama Marouf, the Head of Gaza's Government Media Office, reported on Saturday that hundreds in the Strip have contracted respiratory diseases due to the use of wood, coal, debris from buildings, plastic materials, and chemicals as alternatives to fuel in order to ignite fires, thus emitting toxic gases.

The Israeli blockade on Gaza has been preventing the entry of crucial necessities such as cooking gas and various other types of fuels. The northern and central parts of Gaza have been most impacted, the official noted.

Numbers of registered cases of persons affected by respiratory diseases have spiked as a result of citizens relying on igniting fires with unsafe materials for prolonged hours daily over the past months, whether for cooking, heating water, or even illumination purposes.

Gaza authorities warn of serious consequences due to these conditions, including increased possibilities of contracting lung cancer and respiratory diseases due to the toxic fumes.

Hundreds of cases of respiratory diseases were recorded in the Gaza Strip. Because of the use of firewood and charcoal as an alternative to cooking gas.#Gaza #GazaGenocide‌ #Gaza_War #Palestine #Rafah #Russia pic.twitter.com/lbkzZ9JBV1

— malek ahmed (@Yemen___26) April 19, 2024

Earlier today, Gaza's Health Ministry reported that the number of martyrs since the onset of the war in Gaza has risen to 34,049, and the number of injured has risen to 76,901.

This comes as the Israeli army committed a total of four massacres within the past 24 hours. 

Families were targeted in the attacks, resulting in a total of 37 martyrs and another 68 injuries, according to the Health Ministry.

The number is expected to rise as several individuals remain trapped under the rubble of buildings and in streets which have become inaccessible to ambulance and civil defense crews due to the extent of the damage. 

Read more: Palestinians swimming at Gaza's beaches enrages Israelis

Hospitals become mass graves

On a related note, the Director General of the Government Media Office in Gaza, Ismail Thawabteh, reported that more than 72% of the victims of the Israeli aggression on Gaza are women and children.

Thawabteh noted that the healthcare sector in Gaza has completely collapsed due to the war and that Al-Shifa Medical Complex in Gaza has been turned into mass graves.

The official further said that units within the Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Yunis have been converted into torture chambers to interrogate Palestinian medical staffers.

Thawabteh appealed to the international community to send mobile field hospitals and medical teams to Gaza, and urged international institutions to pressure the regime to cease its aggression and release medical teams that were taken hostage.