Palestinians forced to drink "dirty seawater" amid scorching heat: report

The UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, revealed that thousands of families in the Gaza Strip are forced to drink dirty seawater for their daily needs.

Israel continues to ban supplies of food, water, medicine and fuel to the territory.

Thousands of Palestinian children in Gaza have been diagnosed with malnutrition, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO) report published on June 12.

“A significant proportion of Gaza’s population is now facing catastrophic hunger and famine-like conditions,” WHO chief Tedros Adhanom said.

“Despite reports of increased delivery of food, there is currently no evidence that those who need it most are receiving sufficient quantity and quality of food,” he added.

Tedros further informed that 8,000 children under five years old were diagnosed and treated for acute malnutrition in Gaza.

“However, due to insecurity and lack of access, only two stabilisation centres for severely malnourished patients can operate,” the WHO chief added.

The UNRWA, in its recent post, said that children have to "wait in long queues to access minimal amounts of water in Gaza's burning summer heat.

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In #Gaza’s burning summer heat, children have to wait in long queues to access minimal amounts of water.

Thousands of families are forced to rely on dirty sea water for their daily needs.

Safe and unimpeded humanitarian access to the #GazaStrip is urgently needed to save lives. pic.twitter.com/bK2akI675J

— UNRWA (@UNRWA) June 25, 2024

"Thousands of families are forced to rely on dirty seawater for their daily needs. Safe and unimpeded humanitarian access to the Gaza Strip is urgently needed to save lives," it added.

At least 37,626 people have been killed and 86,098 wounded in Israel’s one-sided war on Gaza since October 7.