1.1m cases of infectious diseases due to displacement in Gaza

Some 1.1 million Palestinians in Gaza have contracted infectious diseases as a result of overcrowding and displacement in the Gaza Strip, including 20,000 cases of viral hepatitis, the Government Media Office said yesterday.

Releasing figures on day 240 of Israel’s relentless bombing campaign, the government warned that 60,000 pregnant women in the Gaza Strip are at risk due to the lack of health care, in addition to 350,000 patients with chronic diseases who are unable to access lifesaving medication they rely on.

It also stated that the occupation has committed 3,247 massacres, claiming the lives of 46,439 Palestinians who are either dead or missing, including 15,438 children, 10,231 women, 498 medical staff, 70 civil defence workers and 147 journalists.

Some 82,627 have been wounded, including 11,000 who are in urgent need of medical treatment abroad, and 10,000 cancer patients. Seventy per cent of those killed or injured are women and children, it added.

It noted that 5,000 Gazans have been detained, including 310 medical staff and 20 journalists whose identities are known.

According to the media office, there are also two million displaced Palestinians. Many are living in UN shelters, however 148 of these have been targeted by occupation forces.

Thirty-three of Gaza’s 36 hospitals have been destroyed since October, it added, while 131 ambulances were targeted and left unusable.

The Israeli occupation destroyed 206 of 325 heritage and archaeological sites in the Strip.

Bombs weighing 78,000 tonnes have been dropped on Gaza, leading to the initial losses as a result of Israel’s genocidal campaign to reach $33 billion.

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