Tens of thousands of Palestinians have fled their homes in Gaza since Israel issued a warning to evacuate north of Wadi Gaza on Friday, a statement by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) on Saturday.
The statement added that more than 400,000 Palestinians had been internally displaced.
The World Food Programme distributed food to 135,000 people in shelters across Gaza on Friday.
“As a last resort, people are consuming brackish water from agricultural wells, triggering serious concerns about the spread of waterborne diseases,” it said.
Israeli infantry made their first raids into the Gaza Strip on Friday since Hamas fighters rampaged through southern Israel, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said a campaign of retaliation had only just begun.
Meanwhile, the World Health Organisation (WHO) on Friday warned that Gaza’s health system is at “a breaking point” and that there is little time to prevent a humanitarian catastrophe.
In a state WHO said, “Time is running out to prevent a humanitarian catastrophe if fuel and life-saving health and humanitarian supplies cannot be urgently delivered to the Gaza Strip amidst the complete blockade.”
“Hospitals have only a few hours of electricity each day, as they are forced to ration depleting fuel reserves and rely on generators to sustain the most critical functions. Even these functions will have to cease in a few days when fuel stocks are due to run out,” it added.
With inputs from agencies
Via Firstpost World Latest News https://ift.tt/xXRhDJQ
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