NGOs: The Health Situation in the Sector Needs Immediate Intervention to Stop the Humanitarian Catastrophe

SadaNews - The Palestinian Network of Non-Governmental Organizations has called on the United Nations and international institutions for urgent intervention to find serious and effective solutions to the catastrophic humanitarian situation that is worsening daily in the Gaza Strip due to the continued closure of crossing points by the occupying forces, preventing the entry of humanitarian and relief aid, including medical supplies, and preventing the transfer of patients and injured individuals for treatment abroad. Statistics from specialized institutions indicate a continued sharp shortage of medical tools in hospitals, which has led to the deaths of 1,200 citizens, including 155 children, who fell victim to being denied evacuation for treatment.

The network confirmed in a statement that the health system in the Gaza Strip is reeling under the continued spread of diseases resulting from the effects of brutal aggression, including the disaster of rainwater flooding and the submersion of the tents of displaced people (where only 30,000 tents were allowed in out of 400,000). Many health issues are spreading among the displaced, including skin and respiratory diseases, alongside the worsening health conditions of chronic illnesses, particularly among the elderly. Estimates suggest a lack of essential supplies, even including sanitary pads for the elderly, which increases their psychological distress and leads to avoidable deaths.

It reiterated the necessity of pressuring the occupying state to allow the entry of medical and relief aid in light of the decision by the Kuwait Field Specialized Hospital to stop performing scheduled and emergency surgeries due to an acute shortage of basic medical supplies, including anesthesia, medical solutions, sterilization, and surgical tools necessary for operations, which the occupying authorities are preventing from entering.

The network stated that while it calls again on the UN Secretary-General, the Human Rights Council, the World Health Organization, and international bodies and institutions to work to stop this barbaric behavior of the occupation, it renews its call to classify this issue as a continuation of the genocide that has been perpetrated since October 7, 2023, and continues to this day, and to stop this systematic aggression through holding the occupying state accountable for these crimes, imposing international sanctions on it, and finding international mechanisms that would open mandatory corridors for the entry of aid, relief, medical, and health supplies to the sector, as part of international responsibility to save the catastrophic situation in the sector, prevent the complete collapse of the health sector, and alleviate the humanitarian suffering caused by the winter season and the collapse of buildings, which daily claim more new victims.