Gaza, 30 December 2023 (dpa/MIA) - The threat of disease is intensifying in temporary shelters in the Gaza Strip, where tens of thousands of people fleeing Israeli bombardment are living in cramped conditions, according to the UN emergency relief organization OCHA.

Health services in the area have long been overstretched, and fresh waves of displacement ordered by Israeli forces have made their task even more difficult, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said on Saturday.

Respiratory infections and diarrhoea are among the most severe diseases in emergency shelters, the head of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said on social media platform X on Friday.

Some 180,000 people are already suffering from respiratory infections, while more than 136,000 children under the age of five currently have diarrhoea, which can cause a life-threatening loss of water and vital minerals at this age if not treated.

There are also more than 55,000 cases of lice and scabies.

According to OCHA, the UN Children's Fund delivered 600,000 vaccine doses to the Gaza Strip on Friday. The aim is for young children to receive their routine immunizations next year despite the war. This includes immunizations against diphtheria, tetanus and whooping cough.

Photo: MIA archive