Over half of Gazans are now crowded in southern Rafah area as sanitary conditions deteriorate, UN says
Palestinian people wait with empty containers as food is distributed by charitable organizations in Rafah, Gaza, on January 25
The Rafah area in southern Gaza now hosts more than 50% of Gaza’s population, and people are facing worsening sanitary conditions and growing hunger, according to the United Nations. Further escalation of hostilities in the Rafah area “could have serious implications for over 1.3 million people who are reportedly sheltering in the governorate," the UN's Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said in an update.
Hundreds of thousands of displaced people are now in the streets of Rafah, as well as the southern city of Khan Younis, “living in makeshift shelters in miserable conditions, with little or no access to food, water, medicines and appropriate shelter,” OCHA said. A lack of water availability has also aggravated sanitary conditions, with the amalgamation of solid waste worsened by rain.
These are some numbers of the dire situation, as outlined in the OCHA report:
- 158,000 cases of diarrhea, according to the World Health Organization
- About 50,000 tons of unmanaged solid waste, as estimated by the Gaza Municipality
- Over 650,000 people in Gaza with no home to return to, and many more unable to return immediately due to the level of damage
- 8 million tonnes of debris generated by the destruction of residential housing, which will take more than 3 years to remove
- Water availability through municipal wells at one-tenth of their production capacity a day prior to October 7, 2023
- 15 operational bakeries — with none in northern Gaza — compared to 97 before the outbreak of hostilities.
Hundreds of injuries reported among crowd attacked while waiting for aid, Gaza Civil Defense official says
Gaza’s Civil Defense said they have dealt with “unbelievable” injuries after an attack on civilians waiting for aid near Gaza City Thursday.
At least 20 people have been killed and as many as 150 injured — including dozens critically — when an Israeli military strike struck "thousands of people desperate to get humanitarian aid at the Kuwait roundabout in Gaza City," the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza said. “There are hundreds of injuries. The types of injuries are unbelievable. Some people have lost their limbs,” spokesperson for the Gaza Civil Defense Mahmoud Basal said from Al Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, where many of those injured in the attack are being transferred. Basal added that civil defense crews are still trying to reach the injured but are being "blocked" by Israeli forces.
Civilians were “targeted” by Israeli forces at the Kuwaiti roundabout in Gaza City, where they were gathered to pick up bags of flour, Basal added. Mohammed Al-Rifi, who sustained injuries in his arm and leg after the shelling incident by the Kuwaiti roundabout, said he and others there were "shelled four times.” Abu Kareem, who was standing outside Al-Shifa Hospital, said that people went to the Kuwait roundabout to “get what they could, and were met with shelling.” “The Israeli military instructs people to go to these locations designated for aid pickup, and then they target it. We’re never going to find food to eat,” Kareem said. “We are resorting to food one would normally feed livestock,” he said.
CNN asked the IDF earlier Thursday for comment on any military operations in the vicinity of the roundabout.
Red Cross calls for immediate action to ensure lifesaving medical services stay operational in Gaza
"Concrete actions" are required to preserve "life saving" medical services in war-torn Gaza, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) warns.
The ICRC says only two referral hospitals are providing advanced medical services in Gaza, in a statement released Wednesday. "For approximately 2 million people, the Nasser Medical Complex and the European Gaza Hospital (EGH) – both located in the south of the Gaza Strip – are the only two referral hospitals that provide advanced surgical and medical emergency services with large bed capacities, which is not sufficient for the current wounded and sick across Gaza," the statement said.
However, the ICRC warned that the future of the Nasser Hospital and a third facility, Al Amal Hospital, operated by the Palestine Red Crescent Society, hang in the balance as fighting continues in their immediate vicinity. The head of the ICRC office in Gaza, William Schomberg said "the cumulative impact on the health system is devastating."
In a statement sent to CNN, Dr. Ashraf Al-Qidra, the spokesperson for the Hamas-run Ministry of Health in Gaza described the situation at Nasser Hospital as "extremely catastrophic." "The hospital is operating at 10% of its capacity. Operating rooms have run out of anesthesia and painkillers for patients and the wounded," Al-Qidra added.
Biden needs to tour Gaza as well
UK triples aid to Gaza and calls for increased flow of supplies to the strip
The UK will triple its aid to Gaza and coordinate efforts with Qatar to increase the flow of supplies and equipment to those most in need in the enclave. On Thursday, the UK Foreign Secretary David Cameron will oversee 17 tonnes of family-sized tents being loaded onto a plane to Egypt, according to a UK foreign office statement.
Cameron, who is carrying out a diplomatic tour of the Middle East described the “scale of suffering” in Gaza as “unimaginable.” “More must be done, faster, to help people trapped in this desperate situation. We have trebled our assistance for Gaza, and cooperation with partners like Qatar is helping move life-saving aid and equipment over the border to those living in devastation," Cameron added in the statement.
The foreign minister said he told Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu during a Wednesday meeting that “far more trucks need to be able to enter Gaza and more crossings need to open.”
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