UNRWA Says Situation In Gaza Is Catastrophic

RAMALLAH, Aug 27 (Bernama-WAFA) -- Two officials from the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) have reiterated that the situation in the Gaza Strip is 'catastrophic' and that the space available to people in the Strip is 'very small,' amid increasing evacuation orders for areas across Gaza over the past two weeks.

This came in a statement given to journalists at the United Nations headquarters in New York by Louise Waterridge, UNRWA spokesperson in Gaza, and Wissam Rose, UNRWA's first deputy field director, who were speaking via video from Deir al-Balah in central Gaza, Palestine News and Info Agency (WAFA) reported.

Hundreds of thousands of people are being forced to move every day from one place to another, seeking safe shelter, Waterridge said.

"What we are seeing now is families, mothers and children dragging their belongings.. most people are being forcibly moved, there is very limited access to any kind of vehicle for this kind of displacement now, and people simply don’t know where to go," she added.

She pointed out that in the humanitarian zone declared by the Israeli entity in Khan Younis and Al-Mawasi, "you can barely see the sand on the ground, the area is crowded, adding that there are tanks in areas that were previously known as safe areas, and this is just further evidence that the Gaza Strip is not a safe place, people have nowhere to go, there is no way to find safety, and access to humanitarian resources is very limited, because humanitarian operations are also being displaced under these evacuation orders.

For his part, the first deputy field director of UNRWA said that the recent series of evacuation orders reduced the humanitarian area declared by the Israeli entity to only 11 per cent of the entire Gaza Strip.

"There's actually sand dunes.. congested areas, where people are crowded together and doing whatever they can to survive," he added, explaining that people there "face impossible choices," not knowing what to do or whether to stay or leave.

He warned of the "perfect storm" that creates the environment in which polio can spread, referring to "malnourished children, a devastated health sector, very poor water and sanitation services and conditions, people living in garbage and pools of sewage, feeling stressed and anxious and their immune systems are weakened."

The UN official confirmed that they are now directing their efforts to make the polio vaccination campaign, which will start next Saturday and targets some 640,000 children, succeed, with 40 per cent of these children receiving the vaccines from UNRWA, which is a major player in the campaign.

-- BERNAMA-WAFA