BEIRUT — Rights groups on Thursday expressed renewed concerns about the humanitarian situation in Gaza after Israel’s latest evacuation orders in parts of the overcrowded central city of Deir al-Balah.
The polio virus has been circulating in the battered Palestinian enclave for the first time in 25 years, relief organization the International Rescue Committee said in a statement. It said the spread resulted from the destruction of hospitals and water infrastructure, along with overcrowded living conditions.
“The news of polio in Gaza should be an alarm bell that more infectious diseases are on the way,†Dr. Jude Senkugu, the group’s emergency health coordinator in the territory, said in the statement. “Without clean water, it is nearly impossible to prevent the spread of infectious diseases, as people do not have enough to drink, leaving them with no other choice but to drink contaminated water.â€
People are also reading…
Meanwhile, international medical organization Doctors Without Borders warned that shrinking living spaces would cause diseases to spread faster.
The majority of Gaza’s population of about 2 million have been displaced in the ongoing Hamas-Israel war since Oct. 7, often more than once. Israel has scaled up its evacuation orders over the past month.
“There is no room to put tents up. The overcrowding, severe lack of water, and minimal sanitation services are fueling the spread of diseases,†Doctors Without Borders’ project coordinator Jacob Granger said in a statement. “We are unable to keep up with the overwhelming needs.â€
Both organizations have echoed calls from global aid agencies for an immediate cease-fire.
Israeli strikes kill at least 16 in Gaza
The Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital received the bodies, including the remains of a woman and three children, after strikes overnight and into Thursday. An Associated Press reporter at the hospital counted the bodies.
A man held the body of a child wrapped in a white shroud as a woman next to him wept, saying: “My love, my soul.â€
The Israeli offensive launched in response to Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack has killed over 40,000 Palestinians in Gaza, according to the local Health Ministry, which does not say how many were militants or civilians.
Hamas and other militants killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, in the Oct. 7 attack and abducted around 250. Around 110 hostages are still inside Gaza, a third of whom are believed to be dead.
The Israeli military says it has killed over 17,000 fighters, without providing evidence. It blames civilian deaths on Hamas because the militants fight in dense, residential areas.
The United States, Qatar and Egypt have spent months trying to broker a cease-fire deal and hostage release but major gaps remain.
Three die in occupied West Bank
The Palestinian Health Ministry says three people have been killed in an Israeli strike on a home in the occupied West Bank.
It said the strike was carried out overnight into Thursday in the Tulkarem refugee camp, a built-up residential area dating back to the 1948 war surrounding Israel’s creation. It did not say whether those killed were fighters or civilians.
There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military.
The West Bank has seen a surge of violence since Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack out of Gaza ignited the war there. Israeli forces carry out near-daily raids in the West Bank that often ignite gunbattles with Palestinians. Palestinian militants have carried out a series of attacks against Israelis.
The Palestinian Health Ministry says at least 637 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire in the West Bank since the start of the war.
Israel captured the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem in the 1967 Mideast war. The Palestinians want all three for a future state.
Israel has built scores of settlements across the West Bank that are home to over 500,000 Jewish settlers. They have Israeli citizenship, while the 3 million Palestinians in the West Bank live under Israeli military rule, with the Palestinian Authority administering population centers.
China warns its citizens in Lebanon
China has warned its citizens in Lebanon of the “severe and complex†security situation in the country, as hostilities between Hezbollah militants and the Israeli military continue to intensify.
Beijing on Thursday suggested that its nationals should leave while commercial flights are still available due to the uncertainty of the situation.
“Those who need to continue to stay in Lebanon should remain highly vigilant, strengthen safety precautions and emergency preparedness, and avoid going to high-risk areas and sensitive areas in the south,†the statement said.
Major countries have called on its citizens to leave the country, as fears mount of the conflict in southern Lebanon escalating into war across Lebanon and possibly the region.
China earlier this month, days after an Israeli strike in southern Beirut killed a top Hezbollah commander, called on its citizens to “exercise caution when traveling to Lebanon in the near future.â€
Four Israelis arrested for deadly rampage in the West Bank
Israeli authorities say they have arrested four Israelis, including a minor, who are suspected of taking part in a rampage through a West Bank village earlier this month that killed a Palestinian and wounded several others.
The authorities said on Thursday the four were suspects in “several acts of terrorism against Palestinians,†including the Aug. 15 attack in the village of Jit in the northern West Bank.
Residents interviewed by The Associated Press in Jit said at least a hundred masked settlers entered the village, shot live ammunition at Palestinians, burned homes and cars and damaged water tankers. Video showed flames engulfing the small village, which residents said was left to defend itself without military help for two hours.
In a rare move, Israeli leaders, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, roundly condemned the deadly rampage by settlers immediately after it happened. On Thursday, the Israeli military referred to the riot as a “severe terror event.†Settler violence has grown more common since the start of the Israel-Hamas war.
Rights groups say that arrests for settler violence are rare and prosecutions even rarer. Israel’s Haaretz newspaper reported in 2022 that based on statistics from the Israeli police, charges were pressed in only 3.8% of cases of settler violence.