WHO: Disease may be bigger killer in Gaza than bombs

GENEVA, Nov 28 (Reuters) – If the Gaza Strip’s health system is not repaired, more people may die from disease than from explosions, a World Health Organization spokesman said on Tuesday.

Gaza health authorities, considered reliable by the United Nations, said more than 15,000 people have been confirmed killed in Israel’s bombing of Gaza, about 40% of them children, and many more may be buried under the rubble.

On October 7, gunmen from Hamas, the militant group that rules Gaza, broke through the fence, killing about 1,200 people and taking 240 prisoners, as Israel vowed to eliminate the group.

Margaret Harris of the World Health Organization told a U.N. news conference in Geneva: “If we don’t restore this health system (together), eventually we will see more people die from disease than from bombing. There’s more.”

She reiterated concerns about increasing outbreaks of infectious diseases, particularly diarrheal diseases.

“There are no medicines, no vaccination campaigns, no access to safe water and sanitation, and no food. We are seeing high numbers of cases of infant diarrhea,” she said, citing a United Nations report on the living conditions of displaced residents in northern Gaza.

She described the collapse of Shifa hospital in northern Gaza as a “tragedy” and expressed concern that Israeli forces detained some of the hospital’s medical staff during a WHO evacuation convoy.

James Elder, spokesman for the United Nations children’s agency in Gaza, told reporters via video link that Gaza’s hospitals are overflowing with children suffering from war injuries and gastroenteritis from drinking dirty water.

“I’ve met a lot of parents … who know exactly what their children need. They don’t have access to safe water and it’s crippling,” he said.

He described seeing a child with part of his leg lying on the hospital floor for hours, not receiving treatment due to a lack of medical staff.

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