Islam Times - UN Warns Gaza Health Sector Grappling with ‘Critical Shortages’

Islam Times - United Nations Spokesperson Farhan Haq warned that the health sector in the Gaza Strip is grappling with critical shortages of medicines, supplies, fuel, food, and water, amid Israel's relentless bombardment.

Only five out of 486 health service points in the besieged Gaza Strip were fully operational last month, he told reporters at a briefing on Wednesday.

Over half were entirely non-functional, while 233 were partially operating, the UN official added.

“The health sector is grappling with critical shortages of medicines, supplies, fuel, food and water,” Haq warned.

Israel’s October 2023-present genocidal war on the besieged enclave has killed over 44,200 people, mostly children and women, and injured more than 104,500 others.

The figures exclude tens of thousands of dead who are believed to be buried in the bombed-out ruins of homes, shops, shelters and other buildings.

The military campaign has turned much of the enclave of 2.3 million people into ruins, leaving most civilians homeless and at risk of famine. The Palestinian territory has been identified as one of the places most likely to see deadly hunger levels in the coming months, according to a new report by United Nations food agencies.

Several international organizations have condemned Israel’s apparent indifference to the killing of civilians in Gaza, after a new report showed that nearly 70 percent of verified deaths were of women and children.

The report warned that “widespread or systematic” attacks on civilians could amount to “crimes against humanity”.

The UN’s breakdown of the victims’ ages and genders backs the Palestinian assertion that women and children represent a large portion of those killed in the war.

About 80 percent of the victims were killed in residential buildings, out of which 26 percent were women, according to the report.

Overall, 44 percent of the victims were children, with the biggest single category aged five to nine, followed by those aged 10-14, and then those aged up to and including four.

The youngest victim was a one-day-old boy and the oldest, a 97-year-old woman.