to report «iusnews»; Oxfam warned on Thursday that the collapse of Gaza's healthcare system, alongside worsening living conditions, is leading to babies dying of preventable diseases.
The NGO said babies as young as three months old are "dying of diarrhoea, hypothermia, dehydration and infection as mothers have little to no medical support and are living in appalling conditions without water, sanitation, heat or food", The Middle East Eye reported.
Oxfam's partner organisation in Gaza, Juzoor, said its network of doctors noted that "premature births have increased by between 25-30 percent, as stressed and traumatised pregnant women face a myriad of challenges, such as walking long distances in search of safety, running away from bombs and being crowded into shelters with squalid conditions."
The aid agency said that the four-day humanitarian pause if it happens, is too short and fragile to make any meaningful difference given the scale of need and destruction.
It added that without essential equipment and medical support, premature and underweight babies have little to no chance of survival.
Israel unleashed a bombardment campaign against Gaza on October 7, after the Palestinian resistance groups launched Operation Al-Aqsa Storm in response to decades of violence against Palestinians.
Since the attack, Israel has bombarded the Palestinian territory, launched a ground offensive and severely restricted supplies of water, food and electricity. Thousands of buildings, including hospitals, mosques and churches, have been damaged or destroyed in the Israeli offensive.
The Government Media Office in Gaza said on Thursday that at least 14,854 Palestinians, including more than 6,150 children and 4,000 women, have been killed and over 36,000 others injured in the Israeli strikes.
Some 207 health workers and 65 Palestinians were among those killed. That’s while 7,000 Palestinians are still missing.
According to the report, 60 percent of homes in Gaza have either been destroyed or damaged due to the aggression.
