Situation in Gaza as dire as it has ever been, UN warns

- Louise Wateridge says premature babies dying at alarming rate because of ventilation, nutrition, and other supply shortages

- Gaza now has world’s highest number of child amputees, with many undergoing surgeries without anesthesia, she adds

GENEVA

The situation in the Gaza Strip is as dire as it has ever been, with thousands of children hospitalized due to acute malnutrition, the UN agency for Palestine refugees (UNRWA) warned on Friday.

Louise Wateridge, UNRWA's senior emergency officer in the besieged coastal strip, told reporters in Geneva from central Gaza that the suffering and sadness are still ongoing.

She noted that Gaza now has the world’s highest number of child amputees, with many undergoing surgeries without anesthesia.

Wateridge said 30 people were reported to have been killed during Israeli strikes in the Nuseirat refugee camp the night before, which resulted in horrific scenes of people looking for loved ones under rubble.

Citing medical workers on the ground, the UNRWA official underlined that too many patients are dying from treatable illnesses due to a lack of medication and equipment.

Approximately 26,000 people are estimated to have suffered life-changing injuries during the war, she noted.

Stressing that medical supplies are running critically low, she gave examples of low insulin supplies and no insulin syringes at all, which are stuck at a crossing into Gaza.

Wateridge went on to say that premature babies are dying at an alarming rate because of the lack of ventilation, nutrition, and other supplies.

The general population is not receiving adequate nutrition, with thousands of children having been hospitalized due to acute malnutrition, she added, adding that the situation is as dire as it has ever been and that what people most need is peace and the ability to return home.

Israel has launched a genocidal war on the Gaza Strip that has killed nearly 44,900 victims, mostly women and children, since an attack by the Palestinian resistance group, Hamas, on Oct. 7, 2023.

The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants last month for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on Gaza.