WHO: Gaza has become unfit for life

The World Health Organization's Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean, Hanan Balkhi, described the situation in the Gaza Strip as 'catastrophic by all standards,' after the war passed its 200th day. This comes at a time when the Israeli army is preparing to evacuate Palestinian civilians from Rafah and attack Hamas strongholds in the city, despite international warnings of a major humanitarian catastrophe. Balkhi said: 'More than 200 days have passed since the devastating crisis in Gaza, during which the residents of the Strip suffered the most, and the entire Strip turned into a land unfit for life.' The Regional Director of World Health Organization estimated that more than 1.7 million people are among the displaced, as they were forced to leave to flee 'unprecedented violence, after they lost everything, their homes, possessions, and loved ones as well.' She stressed that "deprivation of basic needs, namely food, fuel, sanitation, shelter, security, and health care, is inhumane and cannot be tolerated," considering that the continuation of this situation portends an increase in infections, the approach of famine, and the spread of diseases. Balkhi touched on international and regional fears of famine in the Gaza Strip, adding that "the famine that has begun to loom on the horizon is what we truly fear." The Integrated Food Security Interim Classification report shows that famine is expected to occur at any time between now and next May in northern Gaza, according to the Regional Director of Global Health, stressing that 'this report confirms what we and our partners in the United Nations and non-governmental organizations are witnessing, and we are reporting "We have been warning about it for months.' According to Hamas medical sources, the death toll from the war among Palestinians has risen, as of Thursday, to 34,305 dead, and about 77,300 injured, since the seventh of last October. Source: National Iraqi News Agency