Gaza’s Health Ministry has declared a polio epidemic across the Gaza Strip, saying it was “a result” of Israel’s “brutal aggression” on the enclave.
In a statement on Monday, the ministry said “the polio-causing virus type CVPV2” has been discovered “in the sewage water in Khan Younis and the central governorates.”
After many years “of eradicating polio,” the population faced a “dire situation” caused by Israel’s military offensive in Gaza “which has deprived residents of safe drinking water, destroyed sewage infrastructure, accumulated thousands of tons of garbage, caused food insecurity, and crowded residents in forced displacement areas.”
The discovery, it said, “poses a health threat to the residents of the Gaza Strip and neighboring countries and is a setback for the global polio eradication program.”
“The Ministry of Health warns that the epidemic control program launched by the Ministry in partnership with relevant international institutions, especially UNICEF and the World Health Organization, will not be sufficient unless there is (the) immediate intervention to end the aggression,” the statement said.
‘Highly Contagious’
In addition, to “find radical solutions to the problem of lack of safe drinking water, personal hygiene means like cleaners and disinfectants, repair of sewage networks, and removal of tons of garbage and solid waste.”
Earlier this month, the ministry said tests on sewage samples, conducted in coordination with the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), confirmed the presence of the poliovirus in sewage.
In June, UNICEF warned that a lack of access to safe water in Gaza meant the threat of disease was soaring.
🚨🚨 #Gaza is now classified as a "polio epidemic zone" by the Palestinian Ministry of Health after traces of the virus were found in sewage samples in Khan Younis and the Middle Area (the most densely populated areas of Gaza rn). Polio had been eradicated in Palestine for years. pic.twitter.com/rybW2UpMWY
— Al-Mezan الميزان (@AlMezanCenter) July 29, 2024
“With the breakdown in sanitation and sewage treatment, the polio virus joins the list of threats, especially for the thousands of unvaccinated children,” the organization stressed.
Polio is a highly contagious viral disease that attacks the nervous system and can cause total paralysis within hours.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the escalation of hostilities by Israel in Gaza has led to a continuous rise in deaths and injuries, severe overcrowding in shelters, and the disruption of health, water, and sewage systems, which could accelerate the spread of infectious diseases.
Ongoing Genocide
Flouting a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire, Israel has faced international condemnation amid its continued brutal offensive on Gaza.
Israel is currently on trial before the International Court of Justice for genocide against Palestinians, since October 7.
According to Gaza’s Ministry of Health, 39,363 Palestinians have been killed, and 90,923 wounded in the ongoing genocide. Moreover, at least 11,000 people are unaccounted for, presumed dead under the rubble of their homes throughout the Strip.
Genocide Continues – Civilian Casualties and Forced Displacements in Gaza
Israel says that 1,200 soldiers and civilians were killed during the Al-Aqsa Flood Operation on October 7. Israeli media published reports suggesting that many Israelis were killed on that day by ‘friendly fire’.
Palestinian and international organizations say that the majority of those killed and wounded are women and children.
The Israeli war has resulted in an acute famine, mostly in northern Gaza, resulting in the death of many Palestinians, mostly children.
The Israeli aggression has also resulted in the forceful displacement of nearly two million people from all over the Gaza Strip, with the vast majority of the displaced forced into the densely crowded southern city of Rafah near the border with Egypt – in what has become Palestine’s largest mass exodus since the 1948 Nakba.
Later in the war, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians began moving from the south to central Gaza in a constant search for safety.
(The Palestine Chronicle)
