The UN has said more than 40 percent of dialysis patients in besieged Gaza have died since October 2023 due to Israeli attacks on health facilities or lack of access, as ongoing Israeli carnage deepens the humanitarian crisis.
Citing the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric during a news conference on Monday reported that "scores of people killed and injured, apparently while gathering to receive supplies near militarised distribution centres in Rafah and Deir al Balah."
Dujarric said the continued Israeli strikes on health infrastructure, adding that the Noura Al Kaabi Centre for dialysis in North Gaza was hit on Sunday.
"The Ministry of Health in Gaza reports that more than 40 percent of dialysis patients in Gaza have died since the escalation of the hostilities in October 2023. This is because the centres were either struck or unreachable," he said.
Warning of growing displacement across the enclave, Dujarric said: "On Saturday, Israeli authorities issued another displacement order in Khan Younis and Deir al Balah. This has affected about 100,000 people living in more than 200 displacement sites."
"Overall, since 18 March, humanitarian partners estimate that more than 640,000 people — nearly a third of Gaza's entire population — have been displaced again across the Strip," he added.
While more than 300 truckloads of aid have been picked up from the Gaza side of Karem Abu Salem crossing since it was reopened, access remains inconsistent.
"Today, one of our attempts to collect supplies from Kareem Shalom was denied," Dujarric said.
Israeli carnage
Israel has been carrying out a genocide in Gaza since October 2023. Palestinians have recorded killings of more than 54,470 Palestinians, most of them women and children.
Some 11,000 Palestinians are feared buried under rubble of annihilated homes, according to Palestine's official WAFA news agency.
Experts, however, contend that the actual death toll significantly exceeds what the Gaza authorities have reported, estimating it could be around 200,000.
Over the course of the genocide, Israel reduced most of the enclave to ruins and practically displaced all of its population.
Aid agencies have warned about the risk of famine among the enclave's more than 2 million.
Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war crimes against civilians in the enclave.
