“There are an estimated 50,000 pregnant women in Gaza, with more than 180 giving birth every day.” – UN
The lives of newborns in the Gaza Strip are “hanging by a thread” and women have to give birth in the streets amid rubble, several UN organizations said in a joint statement.
The organizations are the United Nations Children’s Fund, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, the United Nations sexual and reproductive health agency, and the World Health Organization.
“Maternal deaths are expected to increase given the lack of access to adequate care,” the statement said.
“The lives of newborns also hang by a thread. If hospitals run out of fuel, the lives of an estimated 130 premature babies who rely on neonatal and intensive care services will be threatened.”
Israel used at least two bombs weighing 2,000 pounds (approx. 907 kilos) in an airstrike on Tuesday on the densely-populated refugee camp of Jabalia, in the northern Gaza Strip, the New York Times revealed on Saturday. https://t.co/GW5TlDhr9W pic.twitter.com/F0woBLb0r9
— The Palestine Chronicle (@PalestineChron) November 4, 2023
“There are an estimated 50,000 pregnant women in Gaza, with more than 180 giving birth every day. Fifteen percent of them are likely to experience pregnancy or birth-related complications and need additional medical care,” the UN organizations said.
“With 14 hospitals and 45 primary health care centers closed, some women are having to give birth in shelters, in their homes, in the streets amid rubble, or in overwhelmed healthcare facilities, where sanitation is worsening, and the risk of infection and medical complications is on the rise.”
The UN has repeatedly warned that its medical facilities in the besieged Palestinian enclave are running at capacity, and without fuel supplies may soon be forced to stop helping the people of the Gaza Strip.
Israel has, thus far, killed over 9,488 Palestinians in Gaza, including 3,900 children and 2,500 women, and wounded more than 24,000. Palestinian Ministry of Health reports and international organizations say that the majority of those killed and wounded are women and children.
A few months ago, Ward al-’Tul turned two years old. Her mother Rawand documented the little girl’s joy on her birthday. Ward was killed today, October 24, along with her mother, her father, and her entire family. pic.twitter.com/RmHjRSl7Rx
— The Palestine Chronicle (@PalestineChron) October 24, 2023
Despite a massive Israeli military buildup around the Gaza borders and sporadic infiltrations on the outskirts of the besieged Strip, Palestinian Resistance continues to repel Israeli attacks.
To justify its military failure, the Israeli army continues to pound civilian homes throughout the Gaza Strip with new massacres reported everywhere in the besieged enclave.
Gaza has been under a tight Israeli military siege since 2007, following a democratic election in occupied Palestine, the results of which were rejected by Tel Aviv and Washington.
(TASS, PC)
