180 women give birth daily in Gaza amid Israeli restrictions, says Palestinian Red Crescent

By Ahmet Dursun

The Palestinian Red Crescent said Saturday that 180 women give birth every day in Gaza under "dangerous" and "inhumane" conditions due to Israeli attacks and occupation.

"In Gaza, 180 women give birth daily under dangerous and inhumane conditions. Many of them are unable to reach hospitals due to being in besieged areas, with the Israeli forces preventing ambulances from reaching them," it said in a statement.

To emphasize the severity of the situation, the humanitarian organization shared recordings on X.

The recordings documented telephone conversations between health teams and the family of a pregnant woman who could not reach a hospital in time to give birth in the Gaza Strip.

A Palestinian Red Crescent doctor guides and assists the family in the audio recordings, aiming to facilitate a safe home delivery for the woman who was in conversation with her sister.

UN Population Fund (UNFPA) Representative for Palestine, Dominic Allen, said in a virtual news conference Saturday from Jerusalem that 18,000 births occurred in Gaza in the last 100 days.

He noted that UNFPA could not provide sufficient supplies and the situation in hospitals is dire.

Allen highlighted that 5,500 women are expected to give birth in the coming months and he expressed concern for their struggles with water scarcity, food shortages and limited access to treatment.

He emphasized the deadly risks involved and underscored the urgency of preventing such tragedies.

-45,000 pregnant, 68,000 lactating women in Gaza face death

UNFPA announced Dec. 17, that 45,000 pregnant and 68,000 lactating women in Gaza are at risk of anemia, bleeding and even death.

Health Ministry spokesman in Gaza, Ashraf al-Qudra, said in a Jan. 1 statement that due to not meeting the needs of 50,000 pregnant women in centers accommodating those displaced by attacks in the Gaza Strip, patients are facing inadequate nutrition and health problems.

Al-Qudra urgently called on UN-affiliated agencies to intervene to rescue children and pregnant women from the situation.