Over 150,000 pregnant women face terrible sanitary conditions in Gaza: UN agency

By Ahmed Asmar

ANKARA (AA) – Israel’s war on the Gaza Strip is leaving tens of thousands of pregnant women struggling with terrible sanitary conditions and health risks, the UN refugee agency UNRWA warned on Monday.

"More than 150,000 pregnant women are facing terrible sanitary conditions and health hazards amid displacement and war," UNRWA said in a statement.

The UN agency published a photo of a newborn girl in the war-torn enclave.

“Habiba was born in a small tent. She’s 2 weeks old and less than 2 kg of weight,” it said. “No child in the world should suffer like this.”

UNRWA renewed its call for an immediate cease-fire in Gaza, where nearly 35,100 people have been killed and over 78,800 others injured in a deadly Israeli offensive since a Hamas attack that killed nearly 1,200 people last Oct. 7.

The Israeli onslaught has forced several hospitals and health care centers out of service amid severe shortages of medicines and fuel.

On April 24, Tlaleng Mofokeng, the UN special rapporteur on the right to health, said the Gaza war has "completely obliterated" the health system there, and the right to health has been decimated at "every level."

Over seven months into the Israeli war, vast swathes of Gaza lay in ruins, pushing 85% of the enclave’s population into internal displacement amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water, and medicine, according to the UN.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice. An interim ruling in January said it is "plausible" that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza and ordered Tel Aviv to stop such acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.