Living conditions in Gaza continue to deteriorate, with reports of an increase in diarrhoea and suspected cases of Hepatitis A, UN humanitarians warned on Thursday.
The UN agency assisting Palestine refugees (UNRWA) is continuing to provide healthcare as best it can but overcrowded shelters and limited sanitation services, coupled with forced displacement, are posing severe health risks, the agency said in a post on X.
Furthermore, safe water is unaffordable for many, and people are resorting to burning trash to cook with, the UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) added.
Aid operations 'near collapse'
There are also serious concerns that humanitarian operations in the enclave "are near collapse".
The UN World Food Programme (WFP) warned in a bulletin that if food and humanitarian supplies do not begin to enter Gaza in "massive quantities", desperation and hunger will spread.
"The limited functionality of the southern border crossings, key arteries for getting aid in, means that barely any fuel or aid is getting into any part of Gaza. There are currently no food distributions taking place in the south of Gaza except for some limited stocks that are given to community kitchens for hot meals," it noted.
All bakeries in Rafah have shut down. However, as of Wednesday, the agency was still able to support six bakeries in central Gaza, four in Gaza City and one in Jabalia.
Listen below to an update on the humanitarian situation in Gaza from Shaza Moghraby, WFP Communications Officer:
