UNRWA: Situation in Gaza Strip a "full-fledged disaster"

Lewis Waterridge, an employee of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), described the situation in the Gaza Strip as a “full-fledged disaster.”

This came during his participation via the Internet in the daily press conference of the United Nations, on Monday.

Waterridge said he is currently in the central Gaza Strip.

"If we had to describe the situation here, it would be a complete disaster," he added.

He continued: "Over the past few weeks, we have received continuous orders (from Israel) for forced displacement in the central, southern and northern parts of the Gaza Strip, and what we are witnessing here is hundreds of thousands of people being forced to flee every day."

He explained that most people move around on foot.

"Access to any means of transportation for this type of displacement is now very limited and people do not know where to go," he added.

polio virus spread

In turn, UNRWA's First Deputy Field Director, Sam Rose, stated that the environment in Gaza, where people are displaced and forced to move frequently as a result of Israeli evacuation orders, is "ideal" for the emergence and spread of the polio virus.

Speaking about the difficulty of accessing food, water and basic health services in Gaza, Rose said: “In exactly these circumstances, polio has re-emerged in Gaza with a small number of cases that can spread very quickly.”

For his part, the spokesman for the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Stephane Dujarric, indicated that the possibility of giving any vaccine to 50,000 children born after October 7, 2023 is "very low."

Dujarric pointed out that 1.2 million doses of polio vaccine had been delivered to Gaza as of Sunday, and it is planned to vaccinate more than 640,000 children in the region.

Anatolia