Palestinians displaced by the Israeli occupation of Gaza are living in inhumane conditions. Children there sometimes spend whole days without food. Thousands of people are using one toilet again. The international non-governmental organization Oxfam warned this on Tuesday.
Israel has recently intensified its attacks on Rafah, the southernmost city of Gaza. Those who fled from other parts of Gaza and took refuge here for so long, have now started fleeing here. According to UNRWA, more than 1 million people have fled Rafah.
More than two-thirds of Gazans are crammed into less than one-fifth of the besieged valley, Oxfam says.
The organization also said that despite Israel’s assurances of full assistance to the fleeing people, large parts of Gaza remain deprived of humanitarian aid. Famine is also knocking at the door.
According to Oxfam, a survey conducted last May by various aid agencies showed that before this survey, 85 percent of children in Gaza went without food for at least one day every three days.
“By the time famine is declared, it will be too late,” said Sally Abi Khalil, Oxfam’s Middle East and North Africa regional director.
In an interview with French television last week, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu denied allegations that people in Gaza were starving. He claimed that everything has been done to avoid famine.
A toilet for 4 thousand people
Meanwhile, Israeli forces have designated some areas as ‘humanitarian zones’, such as al-Mawasi on the southern Gaza coast. But there is no water supply or sanitation services.
Oxfam said, ‘People are living inhumane lives in al-Mawasi. There are only 121 toilets for 5 lakh people. That is, an average of 4 thousand 130 people are using a toilet.
Mira, an Oxfam worker working in al-Mawasi, has been displaced seven times since Israel launched the Gaza war last October. Rafa termed the situation as unbearable. He said, ‘There is no system of clean water here. People have to live depending on sea water.’
Israel launched an attack on Gaza on October 7. Their indiscriminate attacks have killed more than 36,500 people in the valley so far. Most of them are women and children.