‘Overwhelmed and lacking basic supplies’: Gaza’s healthcare system on the brink
We’ve spoken to Ruth James, Oxfam’s Middle East and North Africa humanitarian coordinator, who is currently in Deir el-Balah, central Gaza, about the deteriorating healthcare situation in the besieged territory.
James said that over the past week, she had visited three primary healthcare clinics in Deir el-Balah, Khan Younis and al-Mawasi, where staff all told her “pretty much the same story”.
“That they were already completely overwhelmed and not able to get hold of enough medicine and enough supplies that they needed to be able to treat people that were coming to their clinic – and that was before the mass forced evacuation order from Gaza City that was issued on September 9,” she told Al Jazeera.
James said the clinics also had programmes treating children under five and pregnant and lactating women suffering with severe acute malnutrition.
“They all reported to me that the numbers are increasing month by month,” she added, noting that one clinic reported that 40 percent of the pregnant women there had severe acute malnutrition.
James also underlined that a combination of things leads to such high levels of hunger and malnutrition, including the lack of food but also a lack of water and basic hygiene.
“One of the clinics I visited was seeing 1,500 patients a day and they had one latrine, one toilet there – and it wasn’t even one separate for men and women,” she said, noting lack of access to clean water and toilets results in the spreading of diseases and infections, particularly for women.
Israeli air raids hit Gaza despite Trump’s ‘stop bombing’ demand
Gaza’s civil defence agency has reported that Israel conducted dozens of air strikes and artillery shelling on Gaza City – despite President Trump’s demand to halt bombardments following Hamas’s partial acceptance of a ceasefire deal.
The proposal for Gaza, unveiled by Trump this week with Israeli PM Netanyahu’s support, outlines a ceasefire, the release of captives within 72 hours, disarmament of Hamas, and a phased Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.
