Sanitary conditions in Gaza worsening daily: UNRWA

“Sanitary conditions in Gaza are worsening by the day. Insects and rodents can spread diseases, threatening people’s health and well-being,” UNRWA said in a post on X.

“UNRWA teams are working to help displaced families in shelters stop them from invading people’s already crammed living spaces,” it added.

Rubbish has been piling up across Gaza after Israel seized control of the territory’s two main landfills, east of the cities of Khan Younis and Gaza City.

The United Nations has announced the completion of the first phase of the polio vaccination campaign in the Gaza Strip. However, it warned that the risk of other diseases remains high due to unsanitary conditions.

Around 560,000 children under ten years old were vaccinated against polio during the first round of an emergency vaccination campaign conducted in three phases from 1-12 September 2024 in the Gaza Strip.

The original target for the campaign was 640,000 children, estimated in the absence of an accurate survey, which may have been an over-estimate, as the population continues to move from place to place, and people are fleeing and being killed due to the ongoing Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza.

After the first confirmed polio case in Gaza in 25 years, a massive vaccination effort began.

A second round of the campaign will follow, ideally within four weeks, to provide a second dose of nOPV2 to children in Gaza to stop the outbreak and prevent its international spread.

Israel launched its military onslaught on Gaza after Hamas led an attack on southern Israel on October 7, killing at least 1,200 people.

Promising to destroy Hamas, Israel launched an assault on Gaza, which has killed at least 41,200 people, mostly women and children, according to Palestinian officials.