Vital aid running low in Gaza as more Israeli attacks hit schools: UN warns

UNITED NATIONS, (APP – UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News – 23rd Aug, 2024) UN aid teams have warned that vital supplies that are essential for water purification are running out and deteriorate in besieged Gaza, while humanitarians condemn new Israeli attacks on schools that take refuge. people displaced by the war.

There are enough chlorine reserves to last only one month, the UN aid coordination office, OCHA, said, while double the amount of cleaning solution must be used to be effective now.

Children are particularly at risk of water-borne diseases and the danger will increase during the winter months if Gazans continue to be forced to live in overcrowded shelters that lack adequate water and sanitation facilities, OCHA noted.

The UN agency added that the acute shortage of hand washing soap, washing powder/liquid and shampoo, and the lack of disinfectants, continue to allow diseases to spread easily.

“Even when these products are available in the market, people cannot afford them,” OCHA said, adding that many Gazans now rely on water truck operations, with 22 partners distributing more than 7,000 cubic meters of water every day at 775 registered locations.

In a related development, humanitarian officials condemned another attack on a UN school in Gaza City whose explosion could be seen from more than 12 kilometers away.

Wednesday’s strike was the third time the school has been hit, following strikes in December and July, according to the UN agency for Palestine refugees, UNRWA, which runs the facility.

The UN agency noted that a day earlier, a strike landed in a school turned into a shelter in Gaza City.

Children were reportedly killed and injured, and some were reportedly burned to death, UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini said.

Since October 7, more than half of the schools used as shelters in the Gaza Strip have been directly hit during the war, according to the UN Children’s Fund, UNICEF.

Seven out of 10 UNRWA schools were hit and more than 500 people were reported killed, with more than 1,700 people injured despite being protected by international humanitarian law.

“Once again, people seeking safety could only find death and destruction. Schools and other civilian infrastructure should never be used by any side to the conflict for military or combat purposes,” said the UNRWA.

Amid the lack of a ceasefire agreement, more than 40,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, have been killed in Gaza, health authorities say.

In its latest humanitarian update, OCHA warned that repeated displacement, even among children diagnosed with malnutrition, has made it difficult for partners to monitor their progress and for families to bring sufficient supplies to prevent and treat the condition.

Between August 3 and 16, 26,825 children under the age of five and 12,728 pregnant and lactating women received a 30-day allocation of special nutritional supplements in Khan Younis, Deir Al-Balah and Rafah, from the World Food Program of the UN (WFP).

The lack of income for seeds, fertilizers and other livestock and crop production inputs is also hindering the restoration of local food production in Gaza, OCHA said.