UN reports ‘utterly appalling’ conditions at school sheltering 14,000

Published
0

The school, run by the UN’s agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), is housing 14,000 displaced civilians in Deir el-Balah, central Gaza, Al Jazeera reports.

According to Louise Wateridge, a UNRWA spokesperson, the shelter has not had any food to distribute since March 11, and once-healthy children are now “unrecognisable” because of severe malnutrition and disease.

“Our colleagues shared that two people had already died in this facility because of the lack of sanitation and there is a spread of hepatitis A and skin diseases,” she said.

“The facility only has 25 toilets, meaning 560 people are sharing one single toilet with no hygiene products and a shortage of water due to lack of fuel, to pump the water from the well.”

Opinion

Editorial

Makkah pact clarity
Updated 22 Oct, 2026

Makkah pact clarity

Fresh aggression can kick off a firestorm that will be in no one’s control, hence it is best to abandon such reckless plans.
Common ground
Updated 22 Oct, 2026

Common ground

Regrettably, the two sides still fail to see the country’s economic, security, and governance crises as challenges that must be solved politically.
The treatment gap
22 Oct, 2026

The treatment gap

A BREAST cancer diagnosis no longer carries the bleak outlook it did a generation ago. Targeted medicines,...
Real FBR reform
21 Oct, 2026

Real FBR reform

REFORM of the FBR has always been easier to promise than to deliver. Since the late 1990s, governments have tried...
Missing lawmakers
Updated 21 Oct, 2026

Missing lawmakers

Some lawmakers have reportedly been in detention since before Oct 11.
Tackling rabies
21 Oct, 2026

Tackling rabies

RABIES is a deadly but preventable zoonotic disease. On Monday, two more victims succumbed to it in Sindh, taking ...