International Desk: 50,000 pregnant women in Gaza are at risk due to the Israel-Hamas conflict. They are not even getting basic healthcare. According to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), pregnant women in Gaza are struggling to access the basic health care they need. About 5,500 women will give birth in the next month. The situation is getting worse for them.
Dominique Allen, UNFPA’s Palestinian representative, told CNN, “Imagine what it would be like for them and their unborn children to go through that process, especially the times before giving birth, the possible complications, the lack of necessary clothing, the lack of hygiene.”
It will not even be possible to ensure the health protection of these women and the newborns after giving birth. Because patient pressure in Gaza hospitals is increasing, In the meantime, the United Nations has warned that the hospitals there are running out of fuel.
It has been noted that the amount of fuel that is available in various hospitals in Gaza can only provide services for 24 hours. Israel has imposed a “total blockade” on Gaza since last Sunday after the attack by the Palestinian independence group Hamas. At the time, the country’s Defense Minister, Yav Galant, announced that, in addition to cutting off electricity to Gaza, no food or fuel would be allowed to enter the territory.
Since the total blockade was imposed, the generator was the only hope there. But the UN human rights office warned on its website that thousands of patients’ lives would be at risk if the generators were shut down.
The United Nations also warned of this after recently calling for several aid agencies to be allowed into Gaza to deliver humanitarian aid, including fuel and water.
Earlier on Monday, Ghassan Abu Sitta, a British-Palestinian surgeon working for Doctors Without Borders in Gaza, warned that they did not have enough equipment to help people.
Last Wednesday, the only power plant in the besieged Gaza Strip was shut down due to a lack of fuel. As a result, the Hamas-controlled area was plunged into darkness. At around 2 p.m. local time that day, residents received the final warning of power outages. An hour later, everything went dark.
