UN: 1.8m Palestinians now displaced in Gaza

Hung clothes are seen as Palestinians, displaced from their homes as a result of the Israeli attacks, try to continue their daily lives at Aliva School in Rafah, Gaza on November 30, 2023. [Abed Rahim Khatib – Anadolu Agency]

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said the number of displaced Palestinians in the besieged Gaza Strip has risen to 1.8 million people or about 80 per cent of the enclave’s population.

According to OCHA data, approximately 1.1 million displaced persons have been registered in 156 UNRWA institutions throughout Gaza, and 946,000 of them, or about 86 per cent, live in the agency’s 99 shelters in the south of the Strip.

“Another 191,000 displaced Palestinians are being housed in 124 public schools, hospitals, wedding halls, offices and social centres, and the rest are living with host families.”

There are no accurate estimates about the number of displaced persons in Gaza, since many of them live with relatives, while others returned to their homes during the truce, but they continue to be officially registered in UNRWA shelters and some other organisations.

On Wednesday, Director-General of the World Health Organisation (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, warned that more Gazans are likely to die from diseases as a result of the collapse of the healthcare system and deteriorating living conditions in the Strip, than those who have died in Israel’s bombing.

According to him, 111,000 cases of acute respiratory diseases, 75,000 cases of diarrhoea, 24,000 cases of skin rashes, and 12,000 cases of scabies have been recorded in Gaza.

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