Number of People Living in Shelters Across Gaza Strip Reaches 1.3Mln - WHO

As many as 1.3 million people are living in shelters in the Gaza Strip with limited access to basic needs and the looming risk of disease outbreaks due to poor living conditions and a lack of basic health care, Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO) Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Wednesday.

Last week, Commissioner-General of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) Philippe Lazzarini said that over 1 million people were sheltering in UNRWA-run installations across the enclave. 

"1.3 million people are currently living in shelters in Gaza," Tedros wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.

He added that due to "overcrowding and lack of food, water, sanitation and basic hygiene, waste management and access to medication," the number of cases of acute respiratory infections has reached 111,000, while around 12,000 were diagnosed with scabies and 11,000 people were suffering from lice. The risk of disease outbreaks is extremely high, and more people could die from them rather than bombings "given the living conditions and lack of health care," Tedros added.