The Special Representative of UN Women for the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Marise Guimond, said that the population in Gaza has been almost completely deprived of the means and capacity to ensure food security, shelter, health and livelihoods. This comes as the World Health Organization representative there highlighted the staggering number of infections, amputations, and patients suffering from chronic health conditions in the Strip.
Speaking about her recent visit to the Gaza Strip, Maris Guimond added at the bi-weekly press conference of United Nations agencies in Geneva, “The moment you cross the Kerem Shalom crossing, and the fence closes behind you, you feel .”as if you are stuck in a world of destruction
The UN official, who spoke to reporters via video, said, “Women were asking me, ‘When can we return to our homes?’” Stressing that “every displacement brings more loss and fear.”
To be evacuated from the Gaza Strip to receive treatment.
Guimond reported that she saw people crowded into temporary shelters and lacking even the necessary basics, and that in one of the schools of the Palestine Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), which was turned into a shelter center, there are only 25 toilets for 14 thousand people seeking safety inside the shelter, and there are 59 A thousand people camped outside.
Immediately after the end of her visit to Gaza, the UN official spoke in an interview with UN News about women being disproportionately affected by the war.
Premature babies and caesarean sections
Dr. Rick Pepperkorn, WHO representative in the occupied Palestinian territory, said in the same video briefing that health workers, obstetricians and doctors in the sector were now treating much higher levels of low-birth-weight babies than before the war.
Speaking from Jerusalem, Pepperkorn added, “We see a lot of premature babies and low birth weight babies, and you often see this in times of conflict and war.”
He pointed out, “There are stories about women who go to the hospital asking for an early caesarean section to ensure a safe birth because they did not have complete clarity as to whether they would be able to reach the hospital later, due to the volatile security situation and the constantly changing situation.”
In addition to the risks that mothers and their babies may be exposed to during childbirth in Gaza today, where “there is hardly any prenatal care,” the UN official highlighted the staggering number of cases of trauma, amputations, and patients with .medical conditions. Chronic and urgently needed
