GAZA, (PIC)
At least two children have died due to the heat wave during the past days in the Gaza Strip, the Commissioner-General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), Philippe Lazzarini, revealed on Friday.
Lazzarini said, “Over the past few days, Gaza has been undergoing an unusual heatwave. This made the already inhumane living conditions even worse for 1.5 million people, mostly living under greenhouses-like structures under scorching heat in Rafah.
For its part, the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor said in a press release on Friday that the suffering of the displaced Palestinians in the Gaza Strip whose lives are already in jeopardy as a result of Israel’s genocidal war against them, which is ongoing for the seventh consecutive month, is witnessing a serious deterioration in light of the summertime’s sharp rise in temperature, coupled with high humidity, dry weather, and the proliferation of insects and rodents.
The Euro-Med explained that an increase in fatalities and the spread of diseases have recently killed or at least affected the refugees, the Euro-Med highlighted, adding that the Israeli-made humanitarian catastrophe in the Strip puts Palestinian civilians in real danger, especially those who are more vulnerable. The extreme heat and miserable living conditions, such as overcrowded shelter centers or nylon tents devoid of basic supplies, compound the effects of fear, hunger, and dehydration.
The heat adds to the daily suffering of Palestinian refugees in the Strip in light of severe water scarcity and significant environmental hazards given the collapse of sewage systems, lack of service infrastructure, and waste buildup that has accelerated the spread of infectious diseases and issues resulting in skin allergies, it underlined.
The Euro-Med added that the displaced Palestinians are left to face their fate alone as they are exposed to excessive heat and scorching heat waves. Israel’s genocide has forced more than 1.7 million Palestinians to flee their homes in the northern regions of the Strip in search of a safe refuge in the south, amid additional waves of displacement in the southern governorates.
It said that the humanitarian and health crisis in the Gaza Strip has claimed many lives as a result of horrific conditions in camps and shelters, the intensity of heat waves, and the spread of illnesses among residents, particularly children and members of other vulnerable categories.
“One of these lives belonged to Malak Saed Al-Yazji, a 5-month-old infant. She died on 25 April 2024 after her family was forcibly evacuated to the southern city of Rafah, where the family had to live in a nylon tent. The extreme heat wave that struck the refugee camp, which was devoid of basic supplies like water, and the resulting physical stress and trauma destroyed the baby’s health,” the Euro-Med said.
The Euro Med also documented the death of the young woman Lara Grace Al-Sayegh, 19, who died on 25 April because of the extreme heat. Al-Sayegh was attempting to escape from Gaza City to Rafah, while at the time of her death, her mother was in a coma due to the same reason, it elaborated.
Hoor Iyad Al-Absi also died on 11 April from hepatitis contracted from pollution and crowding after she and her family were forced to evacuate to Rafah. She was admitted to the European Hospital where she remained for five days before she passed away from complications brought on by her illness and lack of access to adequate medical care, the human rights group said.
Another case was that of a 27-year-old man, Anas Abdullah Karaz, who also passed away due to hepatitis and died on 24 April, it added.
Dr Ahmed Al-Naqris, an internal medicine specialist at Rafah’s Abu Youssef Al-Najjar Hospital in Rafah, affirmed that the hepatitis A virus is spreading at an unprecedented rate as a result of the dire circumstances in the Strip and extreme overcrowding there, particularly in Rafah.
Euro-Med Monitor added that, as a result of the ongoing, devastating Israeli military attacks alone, health and environmental disasters are rapidly worsening. This has disastrous effects on both the general environment and public health.
It called on the international community to pressure Israel for a permanent ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and the lifting of the strict siege on the enclave, which is a collective punishment and a war crime in itself. “Above all, Israel’s crime of genocide in the Strip must be stopped as rapidly as possible, in order to save what can be saved there,” it said, adding that the international community must guarantee the entry of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip.
Since October 7, the Israeli occupation army has continued its aggression against the Gaza Strip, with the US and European support, leading to the martyrdom of 34,356 citizens and the injury of 77,368 others, in addition to the displacement of about 1.7 million people, according to United Nations statistical reports.
