6 ay önce

Palestinians living in 'appalling' conditions in Gaza: Oxfam

More than two-thirds of Gaza's population is estimated to be crammed into less than a fifth of the besieged Palestinian territory, Oxfam says, as deadly Israeli bombardment and fighting continue to rage.

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"Obstructing tonnes of food for a malnourished population while waving through caffeine-laced drinks and chocolate is sickening" Oxfam's Middle East and North Africa director, Sally Abi Khalil, says. / Photo: AA

Palestinians displaced by the Gaza war have been living in "appalling" conditions, with children sometimes going for a whole day without food and thousands sharing the same toilet, Oxfam warned.

"Despite Israeli assurances that full support would be provided for people fleeing, most of Gaza has been deprived of humanitarian aid, as famine inches closer," the aid agency said on Tuesday.

"A food survey by aid agencies in May found that 85 percent of children did not eat for a whole day at least once in the three days before the survey was conducted," it added.

Since Israeli troops launched their invasion into Rafah on May 6, an average of eight aid trucks per day have entered, Oxfam said, citing UN figures.

While hundreds of commercial food trucks are estimated to be entering daily, the goods on board include non-nutritious energy drinks, chocolate and cookies, and are often very expensive, it added.

"By the time a famine is declared, it will be too late," Oxfam's Middle East and North Africa director, Sally Abi Khalil, said.

"Obstructing tonnes of food for a malnourished population while waving through caffeine-laced drinks and chocolate is sickening."

'Forced to rely on the sea'

Deadly Israeli bombardment and fighting has raged in Gaza's far-southern Rafah area near the Egyptian border in recent weeks, again displacing Palestinians who had fled there in search of safety.

More than one million people have fled Rafah for other areas, according to the UN Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA.

Oxfam said families in some parts of southern Gaza, like the coastal area of Al Mawasi, designated a "humanitarian zone" by the Israeli army, were getting by with barely any water or sanitation services.

"Living conditions are so appalling that in Al Mawasi, there are just 121 latrines for over 500,000 people — or 4,130 people having to share each toilet," Oxfam said.

Meera, an Oxfam staff member in Al Mawasi who has been displaced seven times since October, described conditions there as "unbearable".

"There is no access to clean water, and people are forced to rely on the sea," she said.

On Monday, sewage flooded a camp for the displaced in Khan Yunis after a wastewater pipe burst, an AFP reporter said, with some trying to scoop the filth out of their tents using plastic bottles.