Alwaght- Palestinians living amid an Israeli imposed blockade in the Gaza Strip are facing worsening living conditions which have been described by an NGO as a “humanitarian emergency.”
In a report released on Thursday, Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP) said essential healthcare services are increasingly less accessible, including sterilization and cleaning. Infection rates have subsequently soared. With an inconsistent electricity supply, diagnostic services are not always available and sensitive equipment such as MRI machines have been damaged.
MAP reports that babies' lives are especially endangered due to Gaza's failing healthcare services.
Faulty electricity backup generators mean nurses must often hand-ventilate babies for up to 50 minutes at a time until power is restored.
Aimee Shalan, CEO of MAP said that the international community needs to do more to help Gaza during times of relative peace.
“Gaza is experiencing a humanitarian emergency, but when bombs are not falling, the international community pays little attention. Without immediate humanitarian aid and concerted political and diplomatic efforts to end the blockade, the result will be the same: avoidable loss of life and the further collapse of a health sector which is already struggling to provide the barest minimum of care.”
In 2012, the UN warned that Gaza could become uninhabitable by 2020.
The Gaza Strip has been under an Israeli siege since June 2007. The blockade has caused a decline in the standards of living as well as unprecedented levels of unemployment and poverty.
The Israeli regime has also launched several wars on the Palestinian sliver, the last of which began in early July 2014. The 50-day military aggression, which ended on August 26, 2014, killed nearly 2,200 Palestinians, including 577 children. Over 11,100 others — including 3,374 children, 2,088 women and 410 elderly people — were also wounded in the war.
