Gaza: thousands of missing people, a collapse in the health sector, and warnings of unexploded bombs

International warnings are mounting about the seriousness of the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip, even after the end of the Israeli war on the Strip, as a result of thousands of bodies piling up under the rubble and the presence of large quantities of mines.

The humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip is worsening, with the devastating Israeli war on the Strip continuing for the 207th day, and all mediation efforts to reach a ceasefire agreement faltering.

The Ministry of Health in Gaza announced, in a statistical report on Tuesday, that “the Israeli occupation committed 5 massacres against families in the Gaza Strip, of which 47 martyrs and 61 wounded arrived at hospitals during the past 24 hours.”

The ministry added, "The toll of the Israeli aggression rose to 34,535 martyrs and 77,704 injuries since last October 7."

She continued: "A number of victims are still under the rubble and on the roads, and ambulance and civil defense crews cannot reach them."

10 thousand missing

In addition to tens of thousands of martyrs and injured, the Civil Defense Service in the Gaza Strip estimated that “there are more than 10,000 missing persons who are still under the rubble since the beginning of the aggression (October 7) until today, and the specialized crews have not been able to recover their bodies, and they are not included in the statistics.” “Martyrs issued by the Ministry of Health, due to the failure to record the arrival of bodies to hospitals, and thus the number of martyrs exceeds 44 thousand.”

The agency explained in a statement, “The Civil Defense received many calls from families and volunteer youth teams, to support individual efforts and initiatives in attempts to exhume the bodies of martyrs in a number of homes and residential buildings that had been destroyed for many months.”

He pointed out that the crews, with the help of the people and using simple equipment, were able to recover a number of the bodies of the martyrs, which had completely decomposed.

He stressed that "working with this primitive mechanism will take two to three years, especially since UN officials estimated that the occupation bombing left at least 37 million tons of rubble and rubble in all the governorates of the Gaza Strip."

He warned that "the continued accumulation of thousands of bodies under the rubble has begun to cause the spread of diseases and epidemics, especially with the onset of summer and the rise in temperatures, which accelerates the process of decomposition of bodies."

Collapse of health services

In turn, Doctors Without Borders warned in a report on Tuesday of the collapse of health care services and the worsening of famine in the Strip.

The organization's report stated that "Doctors Without Borders teams working in the city of Rafah (south of the Gaza Strip) indicate that the destroyed health care system and inhumane living conditions also increase the risk of epidemics, malnutrition, and long-term psychological trauma."

The report warned that any Israeli attack on Rafah would be an “unimaginable” disaster, calling for an immediate and permanent ceasefire.

He pointed out that there are serious difficulties in delivering medical supplies and humanitarian aid to Gaza due to restrictions and obstacles imposed by the Israeli authorities.

Explosives in the sector

While it is expected that stopping the Israeli war on the Gaza Strip will stop the loss of more lives, international organizations have warned of a “dangerous stage” awaiting the residents of Gaza, as a result of the large quantities of unexploded bombs.

The Director of the United Nations Mine Action Program in Palestine, Mungo Birch, said during the “27th Meeting of Mine Action Managers and United Nations Advisors” held in Geneva, yesterday (Monday), that “most incidents will occur when people begin to return to northern Gaza, because Their knowledge of the location of unexploded bombs.”

Birch stressed the need for risk training when people begin returning to the northern Gaza Strip.

Jean-Pierre Lacroix, UN Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations, expressed their support for the UN Mine Action Team in their humanitarian efforts and risk assessment work.