Aid workers say pregnant women undergo caesarean sections without anesthesia, while others are forced to use leftover tents instead of menstrual products.
The children are being “consigned to hell”, without their mothers receiving any anesthesia, according to UNICEF communications specialist Tess Ingram.
With more than 1.9 million Gazans displaced since October 7, A “City” tent A settlement of approximately two square miles was established in the city of Rafah, south of the Strip.
No food or medical supplies are allowed into the area, including pads, tampons and birth control pills that can stop or delay menstruation.
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“Imagine having to manage your menstrual cycle without menstrual products, toilet paper or soap, and no chance of being able to wash yourself,” said Reham Al-Jaafari, an ActionAid worker in Bethlehem.
“This is the reality for hundreds of thousands of women and girls in Gaza right now.
“Some women cut off part of the towels to use during their menstrual cycle – this is unhygienic.
“They use parts of tents or fiber. They cut up part of it to use as pillows, and some of them use their extra clothes as pillows.”
Using unclean materials as sanitary products can lead to the risk of infection and potentially fatal toxic shock syndrome.
Ms Ingram added: “Seeing newborns suffering while some mothers bleed to death should keep us all up at night.”
Women and girls make up about 70% of the 25,000 people killed in Gaza since October 7, according to the Hamas-run Ministry of Health.
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An ActionAid Palestine worker, who requested to remain anonymous, added: “There was no water available for me to clean during my period. I did not have sanitary pads to meet my own needs.”
A woman named Adara, who had to flee her home with her four children, said that they “suffer a lot whenever we want to go to the bathroom” and have to “stand in line for a long time.”
With clean running water incredibly scarce in Gaza, people there fall far short of the 15 liters they need per person per day.
According to estimates by the United Nations Agency for Palestine Affairs, only one of the three water pipelines between Israel and Gaza is operational, and there is only one toilet for every 486 people.
ActionAid is calling for a ceasefire to allow more aid into the area.
