The World Health Organization revealed in a report issued in March of this year that “more than 60% of Gaza’s hospitals are unable to receive complicated births, amid a severe shortage of medical staff and basic equipment such as incubators and oxygen.” The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) also confirmed that pregnant women are giving birth in “inhumane” conditions, some in tents, schools, or even the streets, due to the destruction of their homes and healthcare centers. According to a statement issued by the agency, more than 50,000 pregnant women in Gaza face the risk of giving birth without medical supervision, amid a scarcity of medicines and nutritional supplements, water contamination, and a significant increase in birth defects due to exposure to toxic substances from direct shelling, the lack of nutritional medicines, and malnutrition among pregnant women.
