Gaza Strip: UNDP Denounces Collapse of Sanitation System Due to Attacks
Cleaning efforts in Gaza, July 2024 Photo: UNPD
July 31, 2024 Hour: 4:31 pm
Nearly one million cases of acute respiratory infections were reported in the past 10 months, although the actual number is probably much higher, it said.
On Wednesday, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) denounced the collapse of the sanitation system in the Gaza Strip due to Israeli aggression, causing an unprecedented humanitarian crisis.
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In Gaza, waste is accumulating in more than 140 temporary dumping sites, causing serious risks to human health and the environment, the agency warned on the social networking site X.
Nearly one million cases of acute respiratory infections were reported in the past 10 months, although the actual number is probably much higher.
In response, UNDP warned that “an urgent large-scale response is needed”.
In a report published two days ago, the institution highlighted the number of diseases caused by the contamination of drinking water and the amount of waste strewn across the territory.
Since the beginning of the current cycle of violence on 7 October last year, almost one million cases of acute respiratory infections, 575,000 cases of acute watery diarrhea and more than 100,000 cases of jaundice have been reported, it said.
In recent days, the Gaza authorities and the World Health Organization have warned of the proliferation of polio, hepatitis and other diseases.
The Palestinian Environmental Quality Authority has repeatedly warned of the spread of water-borne diseases, including cholera and chronic diarrhea, due to the destruction of the sector by Israeli attacks.
Numerous non-governmental organizations and UN agencies have been denouncing for months the worsening health conditions in the territory, especially in the north, due to the overflow of sewage and the contamination of drinking water.
According to a recent report presented by the director of the Department of Monitoring and Inspection of the Environmental Quality Authority, Bahjat Jabareen, the aggression against Gaza caused the emission of two million metric tons of carbon dioxide due to the demolition of tens of thousands of buildings and the indiscriminate use of bombs.
More than 270,000 tones of solid domestic and industrial waste are accumulated in streets, shelter centers, beaches, and transfer stations without being treated or moved to a safer place, he stressed.
The coastline is witnessing an accumulation of solid waste while groundwater contamination rates increased to 97 percent, he estimated.
Autor: OSG
Fuente: DW-The Star
