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SvennoJ on 24 August 2024
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Deaths mount as Israel orders displacement of people, destroys housing: UN

Immediate evacuation orders issued by Israel’s military in Gaza have so far affected some 250,000 people this month, while the amount of food aid entering the south of the war-battered and besieged enclave in July was the lowest in 10 months, the UN reports.

Acute child malnutrition more than doubled in southern Gaza last month and is now four times higher in the north of the Strip compared with rates of diagnosed child malnutrition cases in May.

Civilian casualties are also mounting – along with destruction of housing, key infrastructure, and population displacements – particularly in southern Khan Younis and central Deir el-Balah, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reports.

Confirmed case of polio a ‘canary in the coal mine’ warning of more: Physician

Dr. Thaer Ahmad, an emergency medicine physician who worked at the Nasser Hospital in Gaza before services collapsed earlier this year, said the need for medical supplies in the territory has never been more urgent as it is now.

“The concern is how are we going to reach the vulnerable people if they keep being displaced by evacuation orders,” Ahmad told Al Jazeera. “In August alone, there were 12 evacuation orders. And these orders also affect UN agencies and NGOs, healthcare workers and people who are on the ground,” he said.

“The fact that we have a confirmed case [of polio] – with the limited capabilities and collapsing healthcare system. The fact that we have one case of polio means that there are several others. This is a canary in a coal mine,” he added.

Little chance of successful polio vaccine campaign unless days of peace in Gaza: Physician

“We know that there are others [cases of polio] out there. The next question is, how do we stop this?” Dr Ahmad told Al Jazeera. “It is with clean water. You know, we use chlorine tablets to help clean and disinfect the water. There have been no chlorine tablets that have entered Gaza since January. All of the water that people are using is contaminated. It’s not safe,” Ahmad told Al Jazeera.

“The second part is how can we get them to vaccines if we can’t even bring in medical supplies because of restrictions?” he said. “If the Rafah border is effectively shut down, then we are totally dependent on the Israeli military allowing humanitarian aid in,” he added.

“We know that we are in jeopardy of losing many people. Kids who will be paralysed for the rest of their lives. Elderly people who could have been saved. All of these people are at risk,” he continued.

“The WHO, the Health Ministry, all different NGOs, they are saying we need days of tranquillity so that we can at least deliver these vaccines and administer them. They want to plan to roll this out on August 31. But by the looks of it, we have no chance of a successful rollout vaccination campaign.”