| No images? Click here  Friday, 27 September 2024 Public Health Situation Analysis (PHSA) on Hostilities in the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt) - 23 September 2024Summary of crisis and key findingsAlthough Gaza has suffered previous escalations, the current war stands out as unprecedented in the scale of death, destruction, and human suffering it has incurred, with repercussions that will echo for generations to come. Between 7 October 2023 and 18 September 2024, more than 41 000 Palestinians were killed and 95 000 were injured, according to MoH in Gaza. More than 10,000 people are estimated to be missing under rubble in Gaza, according to the Palestinian Civil Defence. The humanitarian space in the Gaza Strip continues to shrink and the ability to safely deliver assistance to populations is dwindling. The recent trajectory is negative and highly unstable. Despite ongoing efforts, the situation is exacerbated by frequent aerial bombardments in densely populated urban zones, extensive military ground operations, risks posed by unexploded ordnance (UXO), pervasive insecurity, closures of key crossing points, increasingly frequent evacuation orders, restrictions on movement and access by Israeli authorities, and damage to infrastructure. At least 1.9 million people (or nine in ten people) across the Gaza Strip are internally displaced, including people who have been repeatedly displaced (some, up to 10 times or more). The population is increasingly forced to concentrate within the Israeli-designated zone in Al Mawasi, which spans roughly 11% of Gaza’s total area. The severe overcrowding, with a density of 30 000 to 34 000 individuals per square kilometre has exacerbated the dire shortage of essential resources. These ongoing hostilities and repeated displacement continue to erode people’s ability to cope and access humanitarian assistance; and increase the overall fragility of communities. In southern Gaza, FEWS NET assesses Emergency! (IPC Phase 4!) outcomes are currently ongoing amid rapid shifts in raid and clearing operations, evacuation orders, and population displacement. A total of 165 patients have been admitted due to severe acute malnutrition with complications. Since January to 9 August 2024, around 237,000 children were screened for acute malnutrition: 14 692 were admitted for treatment due to malnutrition, including 1.3% with SAM and 4.8% with moderate acute malnutrition (MAM). Despite the dire situation, humanitarian food assistance deliveries declined further in July 2024 and were among the lowest levels observed since October 2023. Between 7 October 2023 and 19 September 2024, there have been 492 attacks against healthcare in Gaza (747 individuals killed) and 520 in West Bank (23 individuals killed). Every single hospital in Gaza has been affected, and no hospital remains fully functioning in Gaza and the healthcare system is now close to collapse. As of 11 September 2023, there are 17 hospitals partially functional (3 in North Gaza, 7 in Gaza, 3 in Deir al Balah, 4 in Khan Younis) and 19 out of 36 hospitals out of service. Medical evacuations of critically ill and injured patients outside Gaza remain generally suspended since the closure of the Rafah crossing on 7 May, with few exceptions allowed in recent months. An estimated 12,000 patients have been unable to leave and receive urgently needed medical care abroad since then. The war has inflicted further devastation, crippled vital waste collection infrastructure and exacerbated an already dire situation. The ongoing constraints on the entry of sufficient fuel supplies continue to severely reduce people’s access to WASH services. This is significantly contributing to the spread of diseases, highlighting concerning spikes in the number of adults and children suffering from waterborne diseases such as hepatitis A, diarrhoea, skin conditions and others. Destruction of health infrastructure, attacks on hospitals and health workers and severe restrictions on the entrance of medical supplies have devastated Gaza’s health, water and sanitation infrastructure, driving the current public health crisis in Gaza. The dire situation was recently highlighted by the detection of circulating variant poliovirus type 2 (cVDPV2) in Gaza, after 25 years of being polio-free. Humanitarian pauses across specific areas of the Gaza Strip have enabled the first round of the emergency polio vaccination campaign. On 28 August, Israeli forces launched a full-scale military operation against areas in the West Bank. Systematic aerial and ground attacks on Jenin, Nablus, Tulkarem and Tubas governorates, particularly targeting refugee camps, have intensified in the past few months. Between 7 October 2023 and 31 July, 772 Palestinians were killed in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. The recent incursions on the West Bank are the most intense since 2002 and are part of a wider pattern of violence that has sharply deteriorated since the start of the war in Gaza. In the Jenin municipality, approximately 70% of the road networks were destroyed, severely affecting the underlying infrastructure for water, sewage, and internet services. It is estimated that 20 km of essential water, sewage, electricity, and communication networks have been bulldozed. All residents of Jenin RC are experiencing water cut-offs, while approximately 80% of Jenin City is facing similar conditions. Between 7 October 2023 and 6 September 2024, according to the Israeli military and official Israeli sources cited in the media, more than 1540 Israelis and foreign nationals were killed, the majority on 7 October and its immediate aftermath. The figure includes 340 soldiers killed in Gaza or along the border in Israel since the beginning of the ground operation. In addition, 2270 Israeli soldiers were reported injured since the beginning of the ground operation. This most recent violence does not come in a vacuum. Palestine has endured a protracted cycle of hunger, conflict, and despair for over five decades. In 2023, this cycle reached unprecedented new peaks as tensions escalated in the occupied Gaza Strip and the West Bank on 7 October, resulting in civilian fatalities, widespread destruction, massive displacement, rising food prices and a declining currency. In 2022, UNRWA reported that 81% of Palestine refugees in Gaza live below the national poverty line, with 33% of families extremely poor. Gaza also faces high unemployment rates, with 44% of the population unemployed in 2022. The unprecedented impact of the current war on Gaza demands a transformative shift in addressing mounting immediate needs, revaluating long-term systemic challenges to relief efforts, and confronting the root causes of the conflict by ending the occupation and upholding international law.  WHO media contact:  You are receiving this NO-REPLY email because you are included on a WHO mail list.  |
Friday, September 27, 2024
Public Health Situation Analysis (PHSA) on Hostilities in the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt) - 23 September 2024
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