Gaza, 18 August 2025 – Al Mezan is sounding the alarm over the rapid spread of life-threatening and debilitating diseases among the Palestinian population in Gaza, where nearly two years of Israel’s ongoing genocide have created the conditions for a man-made public health catastrophe. 

For over 22 months, Israeli forces have systematically and deliberately destroyed Gaza’s life-sustaining infrastructure – including hospitals and water and sanitation systems – while repeated forced displacement orders have crammed most of Gaza’s 2 million population into extremely overcrowded areas, leaving them trapped in increasingly inhumane and life-threatening conditions. At the same time, Israeli authorities continue to block the entry of fuel necessary to operate hospitals, water wells, and essential municipal services, including garbage trucks and sewage pumps. In the absence of even the minimum standards of sanitation and public safety, health and environmental conditions have dangerously deteriorated. Waste is piling up around shelters and tents, leading to contaminated soil and groundwater and the proliferation of insects and rodents. Altogether, these conditions have triggered widespread outbreaks of skin conditions and infectious diseases such as hepatitis.

Alarmingly, rare and life-threatening diseases have begun to emerge, most notably the Guillain–Barré syndrome, a rare condition in which the immune system attacks the peripheral nervous system, causing complete paralysis and, in some cases, death. According to the Ministry of Health, three people have already died from the illness, and infection rates are rising sharply. To date, 95 cases have been recorded, including 45 children under the age of fifteen.

Dr. Ahmed Al-Farra, Director of the Al-Tahrir Building for Pediatrics and Maternity at the Nasser Medical Complex, reported that over the past two months, there has been a surge in cases of acute flaccid paralysis among children. He explained that the illness typically begins as a mild gastrointestinal infection or flu-like symptoms, but within two to three days progresses to an inability to stand or sit, followed by difficulty swallowing and breathing, and ultimately leads to total paralysis. According to Dr. Al-Farra, 40 to 45 cases have been recorded among children under the age of fifteen, and around 50 cases among adults, compared with only one case per year recorded before the genocide. He stressed that the spread of this disease is directly linked to the contamination of drinking water with sewage, weakened immune systems, vitamin deficiencies, and the lack of effective medicines needed to treat the illness.

The crisis is further worsened by Israel's tightened siege and the spread of famine and malnutrition, affecting over two million Palestinians in Gaza, most of whom are children. According to the Ministry of Health, as of 17 August 2025, the number of deaths caused by hunger and malnutrition in Gaza has risen to 258, including 110 children. In addition, according to the Government Media Office, 40,000 newborns and infants under the age of one are suffering from malnutrition and their lives are at risk. A further 250,000 children under the age of five face life-threatening nutritional deficiencies, while 1.2 million children are experiencing severe food insecurity.

The siege, together with the systematic targeting of hospitals and the denial of fuel, medicine, and hygiene supplies, has brought Gaza’s health system to the brink of collapse. According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), more than 40 percent of households lack access to soap, while the cost of basic hygiene items continues to rise sharply. Urgent action is needed to provide large quantities of soap and water containers to enable basic hygiene practices and prevent further deterioration in public health conditions.

Dr. Mohammed Abu Salmiya, the Director of Al Shifa Medical Complex in Gaza City, reported that hospitals no longer have the means to treat patients as medicines have run out. A dangerous bacterial infection has emerged, causing severe wound complications that often lead to death or amputation. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 452 suspected cases of meningitis were recorded in July and early August of this year, the highest number since the genocide began. Dr. Rik Peeperkorn, the WHO representative in the occupied Palestinian territory, stated that “the critical shortage in medications and consumables continues to worsen, with 52 percent of medicines and 68 percent of medical consumables at zero stock. The crisis has been further aggravated by displacement orders in Gaza City, which have now placed the WHO’s warehouse within an evacuation zone.”

Al Mezan strongly condemns Israel’s crimes and practices carried out as part of the ongoing genocide, including the tightened siege on Gaza and the deliberate denial of humanitarian aid, including medicine and other medical supplies, and fuel.

Al Mezan affirms that Israel’s deliberate imposition of conditions of life calculated to bring about the physical destruction of the Palestinian people in Gaza – through systematic starvation, denial of water and medicine, and the spread of disease amid the collapse of health services – reflects a policy consistent with acts prohibited under the 1948 Genocide Convention.

Accordingly, Al Mezan renews its call on the international community to urgently intervene and compel Israel to halt all ongoing genocidal acts against the Palestinian people in Gaza. Immediate measures must be taken to enable UN agencies to resume their life-saving services at full scale, restore patients’ access to healthcare and safe evacuation, and ensure the unhindered passage of humanitarian aid, fuel, medicines, and medical supplies.

Al Mezan further calls for the rapid entry of medical delegations into Gaza, the rehabilitation of local hospitals and healthcare centers, and the restoration of essential services, including water, sanitation, waste management, and electricity, all of which are indispensable to the survival of the Palestinian population.