Sewage flows in the streets of Gaza as all key\u00a0sanitation services\u00a0have ceased operating, raising the alarming prospect of an enormous surge of gastrointestinal and infectious diseases among the local populations \u2013 including cholera.<\/p>\n
For Gaza\u2019s 2.3 million residents, finding drinkable water has become close to impossible.<\/p>\n
At a school run by the United Nations relief agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) in Khan Younis, 33-year-old Osama Saqr attempted to fill some bottles with water for his thirsty children.<\/p>\n
He took a sip and grimaced in disgust at the saltiness of the fluid, before letting out a long sigh.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s polluted and unsuitable, but my children always drink it, there\u2019s no alternative,\u201d he told Al Jazeera.<\/p>\n
Saqr\u2019s one-year-old son has diarrhoea but he cannot find medicines in hospitals or pharmacies to treat him. \u201cEven if I find it, the problem remains, the water is polluted and salty water, not suitable for drinking,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m afraid that eventually, I\u2019m going to lose one of my children to this poisoning.\u201d<\/p>\n
The World Health Organization (WHO) has recorded more than 44,000 cases of diarrhoea and 70,000 acute respiratory infections, but real numbers may be significantly higher. On Friday, the UN agency said it was extremely concerned that rains and floods during the approaching winter season will make an already dire situation even worse.<\/p>\n
Source: Aljazeera<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Sewage flows in the streets of Gaza as all key\u00a0sanitation services\u00a0have ceased operating, raising the alarming prospect of an enormous surge of gastrointestinal and infectious diseases among the local populations \u2013 including cholera. For Gaza\u2019s 2.3 million residents, finding drinkable water has become close to impossible. At a school run by the United Nations relief […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":144111,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-144110","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-regional"],"yoast_head":"\n