WFP providing reduced rations, prioritising meals
The World Food Programme (WFP) says families that fled Rafah in southern Gaza “are now in areas with insufficient clean water, medical supplies, fuel, and limited food assistance”.
It added on X: “To reach as many people as possible with fewer resources, WFP is forced to provide reduced rations and is prioritising hot meals at community kitchens.”
The UN aid agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) said on Monday that a “staggering” one million people have fled Rafah, amid reports of overnight attacks by Israeli forces.
Families that fled #Rafah are now in areas with insufficient clean water, medical supplies, fuel, and limited food assistance.
To reach as many people as possible with fewer resources, WFP is forced to provide reduced rations and is prioritizing hot meals at community kitchens. pic.twitter.com/huP9PjHwzk
— World Food Programme (@WFP) June 4, 2024
Children unfed all day, thousands for one toilet in Gaza: Oxfam
Palestinians displaced by the Gaza war are living in “appalling” conditions, with children sometimes going for a whole day without food and thousands sharing the same toilet, the United Kingdom-based charity Oxfam has warned.
“Despite Israeli assurances that full support would be provided for people fleeing, most of Gaza has been deprived of humanitarian aid, as famine inches closer,” the aid agency said. “A food survey by aid agencies in May found that 85 percent of children did not eat for a whole day at least once in the three days before the survey was conducted,” it added.
Oxfam said families in some parts of southern Gaza, like the coastal area of al-Mawasi, were getting by with barely any water or sanitation services. “Living conditions are so appalling that in al-Mawasi, there are just 121 latrines for over 500,000 people – or 4,130 people having to share each toilet,” it said.
Up to 11,000 Palestinians need immediate medical evacuation: WHO official
Hanan Balkhy, World Health Organization (WHO) regional director for the Eastern Mediterranean, has said that between 7,000 to more than 11,000 Palestinian patients need immediate medical evacuations.
Speaking in Geneva, Balkhy said the patients who need evacuation are required to receive treatment in specialised hospitals.
“If you’re talking about leaving nobody behind, we are already leaving significant numbers behind from Gaza, but also, when there’s pressure on already fragile health systems in the neighbouring countries,” she said, adding, “So we have a lot of work ahead of us.”
Balkhy continued, “If we do not have peace, that’s going to be an extremely challenging situation. We need peace within the borders to open up.
War’s impact ripples through neighbours’ health systems, WHO says
Healthcare systems of neighbouring countries are feeling the strain as thousands of critical patients from Gaza are evacuated for treatment of complex injuries and ailments, a top WHO official says.
“The ripple effect on Egypt, Lebanon, Syria as the immediate neighbours of the OPT [occupied Palestinian territory] is significant,” said Hanan Balkhy, the World Health Organization’s regional director for the Eastern Mediterranean.
Fewer than half of Gaza’s 36 hospitals were partially functional as of Thursday, the global body reported, as most of the medical infrastructure has been destroyed by Israel’s eight-month assault.
This has caused pressure on “already fragile health systems in the neighbouring countries”, Balkhy said. “It’s not like sewing a laceration,” she added, referring to the typical injuries seen among patients from Gaza.
