‘Very concerned’: WHO chief over growing threat of infectious diseases in Gaza

World Health Organization (WHO) chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Friday said that he is very concerned about the growing threat of infectious diseases in Gaza as people continue to be displaced since the onset of the Israel-Hamas conflict in October.

In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Tedros pointed out that from mid-October until mid-December, people living in the overcrowded shelters continued to fall sick. He mentioned that over 4.24 lakh people are suffering from health issues.

Tedros said, “WHO and partners are working tirelessly to support the health authorities to increase disease surveillance and control by supplying medicines, testing kits to support prompt detection and response to infectious diseases such as hepatitis, and trying to improve access to safe water, food, hygiene and sanitation services.”

Nearly all of Gaza’s 2.3 million people have fled their homes at least once and many are on the move again as Israeli forces carry out their attack on the Palestinian enclave. They have had to take shelter in makeshift tents or huddled under tarpaulins and plastic sheets on open ground.

Fierce Israeli tank fire and aerial bombing struck Khan Younis in the Gaza Strip on Friday night, residents said. Nearly 200 people were reported killed in 24 hours in Israel’s campaign against Hamas militants, reported news agency Reuters.

This raised the overall death toll in the enclave to 21,507 – about one per cent of Gaza’s population.

This attack came 12 weeks after Hamas militants stormed Israeli towns, killing 1,200 people and seizing 240 hostages, Israeli forces have laid much of the Gaza Strip to waste as it pursues its war aimed at eradicating the Islamist group.

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