Gaza

The Guardian - The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned that infectious diseases are “spiralling out of control”, with only 13 of Gaza’s 36 hospitals even partially functioning. “Whether meningitis … diarrhoea, respiratory illnesses, we’re talking about a mammoth amount of work,” Hanan Balkhy, regional director for the UN health body, told AFP in Cairo.

Newsworthy - The systematic targeting of Gaza’s water and energy infrastructure has created an environmental disaster of historic proportions. United Nations assessments reveal that 57% of water infrastructure lies destroyed or damaged, while desalination output has plummeted by 85%. The destruction extends beyond physical damage, representing what experts describe as the weaponization of essential resources against civilian populations.

The collapse of water treatment and sanitation systems has unleashed a public health emergency affecting Gaza’s entire population. Disease outbreaks including cholera and typhoid now threaten over 500,000 people, with many forced to consume contaminated water sources. Medical organizations report that the water crisis compounds existing humanitarian suffering, creating conditions ripe for epidemic spread among vulnerable displaced populations.

Israel’s Mounting Ceasefire Violations in Gaza

The Guardian - The United Nations said on Friday it would take time to reverse a famine in the Gaza Strip and urged the opening of all crossing points into the war-shattered Palestinian territory. “It’s going to take some time to scale back the famine,” the UN World Food Programme’s (WFP) spokesperson Abeer Etefa told a media briefing in Geneva, saying the WFP had five distribution points up and running but wanted to get to 145 in order to “flood Gaza with food” 

Roll Call - Gaza faces rebuilding challenges as the first phase of the ceasefire remains in place. The territory has no money, unexploded bombs are hiding amongst the rubble, and around 90% of the buildings are damaged or destroyed. 

 The first step for Palestinians is clearing the rubble, and then getting supplies needed for reconstruction, says NPR’s Greg Myre, who is in Tel Aviv. Cement is a basic building supply, but Israel says in the past Hamas has siphoned it in Gaza to build hundreds of miles of concrete tunnels for its fighters. Israel doesn’t want this to happen again and plans to keep a close eye on the construction materials, meaning the flow of supplies entering Gaza could slow down