Hospitals in Gaza have been destroyed by the fighting and more than 85% of the 2.3 million residents have been left homeless, while cases of diseases such as diarrhea are on the rise, as is malnutrition in the overcrowded shelters.
Even if hostilities in Gaza stopped now, about 8,000 more people could die there over the next six months due to the public health crisis caused by the Israel-Hamas war, according to a survey by independent scholars in the US and Britain.
Hospitals in Gaza have been destroyed by the fighting and more than 85% of the 2.3 million residents have been left homeless, while cases of diseases such as diarrhea are on the rise, as is malnutrition in the overcrowded shelters.
The figures come from a study by academics at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and the Johns Hopkins Center for Humanitarian Health in the US, and are part of wider predictions of excess deaths likely to be caused by the conflict in Gaza over the next six months. The study, published yesterday, says it does not include Israel because its public health system is intact.
If the fighting continues or escalates, injuries will account for the majority of excess deaths in Gaza, the researchers predict. But deaths from malnutrition, infectious diseases like cholera and lack of access to treatment for health problems like diabetes will also claim thousands of lives.
Based on a worst-case scenario where the conflict escalates and there are significant disease outbreaks, about 85,570 people could die by early August, with 68,650 deaths linked to injuries, the study said.
Even with a ceasefire, an estimated 11,580 people could die in the same period if a disease outbreak exacerbates the challenges associated with rebuilding the health and sanitation system in Gaza. About 3,250 of those deaths will be from long-term complications of trauma and 8,330 from other causes, according to the report.
More than 29,000 people have been killed in the clashes since October 7, according to official figures from the health ministry in Gaza.
Estimates of excess deaths include civilians and combatants, and the researchers point out that the unpredictability of war and disease outbreaks means they have a wide range of estimates. Counting the dead in Gaza is difficult and the aim is to provide greater clarity, the British government-funded report said.
Source :Skai
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