Diseases haunt displaced Gazans amid Israeli bombardment

By Mohamed Majed

GAZA CITY, Palestine (AA) — Displaced Palestinians in the Gaza Strip are showing signs of disease caused by overcrowding and poor sanitation amid Israeli airstrikes and blockade on the seaside enclave.

“We sleep on the ground in hospitals. There is no aid or medicine,” Nadine Abdul Latif, 12, told Anadolu.

“Patients are sleeping on the ground side by side with the martyrs, who are left on the ground,” she added.

The Gaza Strip has been under relentless Israeli airstrikes since Oct. 7, following a cross-border attack by Palestinian group Hamas into Israeli territory.

Gaza’s Health Ministry has put the death toll from the Israeli bombardment at 6,546, while the death toll in Israel reached 1,400.

Israel has put the territory’s 2.3 million population under a blockade and cut off electricity, clean water, and fuel deliveries.

Only a few aid trucks were allowed by Israel into the Palestinian territory from Egypt.

"The aid sent to us to alleviate our suffering is not enough for anything,” Abdul Latif said. “All kinds of diseases have spread among us, such as flu and smallpox.”

- 'There is nothing'

Thick dust raised by the thousands of Israeli airstrikes over the past weeks have also caused respiratory diseases among residents, according to the young girl.

“My 2-month-old cousin can’t breathe from the dust. What has this girl done to deserve this?” she asked.

"There is no clean water, no clean food, nothing, and the remaining food is spoiled."

"We are tired. What is the fault of those children? We have done nothing to deserve this."

According to government media office in Gaza, around 1.4 million Palestinians have been displaced by the Israeli air offensive against the strip.

"The displaced Palestinian families lack the most basic necessities of life amid the ongoing Israeli war on Gaza," said Salama Maarouf, a spokesman for the media office.

- 'Miserable'

Displaced Gazans say they suffer from stomach complaints, lung infections, and rashes amid the crowdedness as Israel has ordered the region's northern population to move to its south.

"All children suffer from fever. They are afraid and homeless," Ali Salem Aliwa, 64, told Anadolu.

"There are no covers, no bedding, no water, nothing, and my wife is paralyzed," he said. "There are no medicines. We are homeless after our house was bombed."

The displaced Gazan man said he brought two bottles of water from nearby mosques for his family to wash every day.

"For 20 days now, my children and I have not taken any shower, and we sleep on the sidewalk."

For Ibrahim Al-Nahal, 28, the situation is extremely bad for his displaced family.

"My son is sick and lives on medicines. Every time his temperature rises, we give him fever-reducing medication," al-Nahal said.

"The situation is miserable."