The fighting in Gaza, the civilian situation and more

Palestinian and international medical officials say diseases such as chicken pox, meningitis and upper respiratory infections are spreading in Gaza, with living conditions worsening due to the Israeli blockade and offensive.

There are 160,000 to 165,000 cases of diarrhea among children under the age of five, a senior World Health Organization (WHO) official told a conference on Tuesday, describing the number as “much higher” than previously thought.

According to Richard Bieberkorn, WHO Representative in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, diseases such as impetigo, meningitis and jaundice have also been recorded in the enclave. WHO is trying to set up mobile laboratories in Gaza to test jaundice samples, Biberkorn added.

He warned that crowded conditions contribute to the spread of the disease.

More context: About 80% of the population has been displaced as the Israeli army ordered hundreds of thousands of people to move into the shrinking enclave of Gaza amid an Israeli Defense Forces ground offensive against Hamas. Medicines and other essential medical supplies are closing the Gaza border, choking off all but aid.

More than 130,000 respiratory tract infections and 35,000 skin rash cases have been recorded in Hamas-controlled Gaza, according to a statement released by the Palestinian Ministry of Health on Monday.

As per the report, at least 4,395 cases of chicken pox, 17,511 cases of lice and 19,325 cases of scabies have been recorded.

The spread of the disease has created additional pressures on Gaza’s health system, which WHO’s Bieberkorn described as “on its knees”.

Only 11 of the enclave’s 36 hospitals are partially functional, Bieberkorn told the conference, stressing the challenges posed by staff shortages and rising patient numbers.

“Physicians are forced to prioritize who actually gets care and who doesn’t. And they treat many acute cases directly on the sidewalk, on the floor, or even in the church,” he said.