Almost half the population of the Gaza Stripwhose population is estimated at 2.2 million people, is located in a small area Rafaha point at the southern end of this territory where overcrowding conditions are such as to constitute the perfect recipe for epidemics And public health disasterThe United Nations (UN) announced this today.

“We all know that the health care system is or has been destroyed. This is partly because shelters have long been overcrowded, with people queuing for hours to get into the toilet… one toilet available for hundreds of people“explained the UN humanitarian coordinator for the Palestinian territories, Lynn Hastings.

“Almost half of Gaza’s population now lives in Rafah, a small part of the Gaza Strip in the southeast. Again, this leads to a health crisis, a third of hospitals are partially functioning“he added.

He stated that they registered 360 thousand cases of infectious diseases and rising levels of hunger.

During a pause in hostilities in the last week of November UN World Food Program I was able to make a quick estimate that suggests that half the people in northern Gaza and a third in the south are suffering from “severe level of hunger”.

Regarding access to drinking water, in the north of the enclave, the first sector that Israel ordered to evacuate in the first weeks of the war, but where more 300 thousand peoplepeople get 1.8 liters of water per daycompared to the minimum international standard of 15 liters.

“This includes the ability to wash, that is, sanitation, hygiene, and also the ability to cook,” Hastings said in statements via video link from East Jerusalem.

He clarified that in addition to increasing the flow of humanitarian aid (mainly flour, energy cookies and canned protein), it is also necessary to ensure access to commercial food products so that the population has access to fresh vegetables and “avoid a malnutrition crisis”.

(EFE)