Milk shortage and epidemics pose threat to Gaza kids’ life

Occupied Jerusalem, SANA- From one pharmacy to another in the besieged Gaza Strip, and under the shelling of the Israeli occupation, Moataz al-Zaanin tries to bring milk for his infants, but all his attempts failed as a result of it’s the shortage of the substance as the occupation prevents the entry of basic needs into the Strip since the start of its aggression on October 7^th.

Al-Zaanin told SANA correspondent that he risked himself by leaving the UNRWA shelter center in the center of Gaza Strip, and searched for milk under heavy artillery and air strikes, hoping to find one can of milk for his five-month-old baby, but in vain.

The Palestinian man added that he was forced to provide his baby with an inappropriate diet for his age, which caused him to suffer from intestinal ache as the doctors told him.

In turn, Dr. Yahya al-Athamneh clarified that infants in Gaza live in a disaster, as they do not get the milk appropriate for their age, and even if some types of milk are available, the water with which it is mixed is contaminated and poses risks to the child’s health.

The doctor stressed that hundreds of cases of stomach and respiratory diseases were recorded among infants due to the deadly environment caused by the Israeli aggression, which destroyed the healthy and environmental system of life in the Gaza Strip.

Assem Hamdan, who also lives in a shelter center in the central Gaza Strip and was displaced from his house in al-Zaytoun neighborhood, said that all residents of UNRWA shelter centers drink contaminated water, as a result of the cessation of desalination plants due to running out of fuel.

Hamdan pointed out that the people of the Gaza Strip live under shelling and massacres, and suffer from hunger and food insecurity.

About 600,000 displaced and afflicted people residing in shelter centers in Gaza Strip are complaining from the explosion of sewage pipes and the accumulation of garbage, as a result of the cessation of waste transport trucks due to running out of fuel.

Nisreen Othman/ Mazen Eyon