More people could die from disease than from bombings in the Gaza Strip if its health system is not repaired, a World Health Organisation spokesperson has said, warning of a surge in infectious diseases and diarrhoea in children, Reuters reports.

“Eventually we will see more people dying from disease than we are even seeing from the bombardment if we are not able to put back (together) this health system,” said the WHO’s Margaret Harris at a UN briefing in Geneva.

She repeated concerns about a rise in outbreaks of infectious diseases, particularly diarrhoea in children, with cases for those aged five and older surging to more than 100 times normal levels by early November.

“Everybody everywhere has dire health needs now because they’re starving because they lack clean water and (they’re) crowded together,” she said.

James Elder, a spokesperson from the UN Children’s Agency in Gaza, told reporters by video link that hospitals in the strip were full of children with burns and shrapnel wounds and gastroenteritis from drinking dirty water.

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