'The Winter Will Be a Catastrophe' Gaza Faces Deadly Respiratory Outbreak Amid War, Hunger, and Medicine Shortage

Haaretz | Middle East News
'The Winter Will Be a Catastrophe' | Gaza Faces Deadly Respiratory Outbreak Amid War, Hunger, and Medicine Shortage

Jack Khoury and Nir Hasson
Aug 31, 2025 9:34 pm IDT


A Palestinian woman comforts a child at the Nasser hospital in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip on Sunday.Credit: AFP

In Gaza, health officials are warning of a sharp rise in respiratory infections – likely flu or COVID – that have already sickened thousands.

The outbreak is spreading fastest among displaced families crowded into tents and shelters without sanitation, where children and the chronically ill are especially vulnerable.

The Hamas-run Information Ministry said Sunday the surge comes amid severe shortages of medicine and deteriorating sanitary conditions. Hospital directors warned that the lack of medical equipment, blood, clean drinking water and food is driving up death rates, especially among children.

Dr. Sharon Shaul, a specialist in family and emergency medicine active in the Israeli Humanitarian Forum for Gaza, told Haaretz the illnesses are likely to spread rapidly because of overcrowding, hunger and pressure of daily life in the Strip. Dr. Michal Feldon, a pediatrician monitoring events there, said the outbreak may stem not from flu but from coronavirus, which has also spread in recent weeks in Israel.
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On top of everything else, now this too. 💔