GAZA – As Israel's war on Gaza entered its 100th day,
Al-Mayadeen interviewed various women in Gaza to report on the humanitarian
crisis affecting the displaced in
UNRWA shelters.
اضافة اعلان
Jenan Mohammed, like hundreds of thousands of women, was
forced to flee her home from northern Gaza two months ago due to the Israeli
war on Gaza, the war that claimed the lives of primarily children and women,
reported Al-Ghad.
In an interview with Al-Mayadeen, Mohammed states that there
is no privacy for women anywhere regarding personal hygiene or even access to
the bathroom. She explains that the displaced use shared toilets that
lack the minimum hygiene standards.
She confirms that she has not bathed since the beginning of
the war except once, after her husband, who owns one of the houses near the
shelter where they are staying, requested permission from the neighbors,
emphasizing that "it is very embarrassing, but we were forced to
ask."
“Women in shelters have difficulty providing personal
hygiene tools, especially sanitary napkins, which have become scarce in the
markets, and the days of the
menstrual cycle pass with great difficulty beyond
the ability of women to bear,” according to Mohammed.
Mohammed points out that “women in shelters are forced to
use medical drugs that cause menstrual delay due to the lack of personal
hygiene facilities,” confirming that she was among the women who resorted to
such an option.
UNRWA is responsible for all shelters in the Strip. In
addition to accusations of corruption against its employees, official and
civil Palestinian parties accuse it of failing to provide for the displaced.
More than 1.5 million displaced persons from various parts
of the Strip live in the shelters, most of whom are women and children. The
shelters do not meet the minimum health or nutritional requirements, which has
led to the spread of diseases and epidemics.
Alia Al-Khalidi was forced to give birth to her first child
inside one of the shelters in Rafah, south of the Strip, confirming that she
did not have any privacy or personal hygiene facilities, not even for a moment.
Khalidi told Al-Mayadeen Net that “despite 20 days passing
since the birth, she has not been able to bathe or even take care of her
newborn’s hygiene,” saying that “my child is still in the same condition in
which he was born, and I cannot find a place or water to clean him from the
remnants of birth.”
She points out that “personal hygiene for women, their
children, and even newborns has become an impossible dream in Gaza due to the
Israeli war, and hundreds of thousands of displaced people are crowded in
shelters,” stressing that this has negatively affected her psychological state.
According to Khalidi, she also finds it difficult to provide
sanitary napkins or baby diapers, and
UNRWA does not recognize the need to
provide health services to women in general and newborns in particular, saying
that “public bathrooms are mixed, and we stand in long lines in front of them
every day.”
She points out that she cannot obtain clean clothes and that
the prayer robe has become the usual dress for her and all women, stressing
that the situation is very miserable in the shelters and cannot be tolerated.
Suzan Abu Mar, who was displaced from northern Gaza to
Deir al-Balah, recounted that her daughters were forced to use baby diapers and
paper towels instead of sanitary napkins.
Abu Mar explained to Al-Mayadeen that “women in shelters are
also forced to use alternative cloth pieces during menstrual periods,” adding
that “UNRWA does not provide enough for women and ignores this segment and its
special needs.”
Women and children’s health specialist Heba Jalal confirms
that “women in Gaza suffer from very poor conditions in shelters and lack the
minimum health and psychological care requirements,” stressing that this will
cause them diseases.
Jalal told Al-Mayadeen that “ignoring women’s health
conditions will lead to serious skin and physical diseases, in addition to
diseases related to the reproductive system, in addition to the
poor psychological condition that women will suffer from for a long time.”
She confirms that “according to the monitoring of
specialized agencies, the percentage of diseases related to the reproductive
system has increased in the absence of the minimum health care and personal
hygiene for women,” stressing that “this is dangerous for the health of women
and men alike.”
“Skin diseases also spread among women, especially in
sensitive areas, and this is a very serious warning of a catastrophe, and it
can lead to the spread of disease infections from women to men,” Jalal added.
Jalal confirms that “the use of medical drugs by women that
delay menstrual periods is very dangerous to their health, and this can cause
them hormonal disorders and many health and psychological problems, in addition
to the possibility of them being infected with cancer.”
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