Sanitation in Gaza a 'tragedy', UN warns

GAZA — Fuel shortages and worsening sanitation in the Gaza Strip are shaping up to be the perfect storm for tragedy through the spread of disease, the United Nations warned on Tuesday.

UNICEF, the UN children's agency, said there was a serious threat of a mass disease outbreak in the besieged Palestinian territory.

"Without enough fuel, we will see the collapse of sanitation services. So we have then, on top of the mortars and the bombs, a perfect storm for the spread of disease.

"It's a perfect storm for tragedy," UNICEF spokesman James Elder told a news briefing in Geneva.

"We have a desperate lack of water, fecal matter is strewn across densely populated settlements, an unacceptable lack of latrines, and severe, severe restraints on hand-washing, personal hygiene and cleaning."

On Monday, Israeli forces pressed their attack against Hamas in northern Gaza, battling militants around a hospital where thousands of patients and displaced people have been sheltering for weeks.

A medical worker inside the Indonesian Hospital and the Health Ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said a shell struck the second floor of the hospital, killing 12 people. Both blamed Israel, which denied shelling the hospital, saying its troops returned fire on militants who targeted them from inside the compound.

The Israeli offensive came as 28 premature babies evacuated from Gaza City's Al-Shifa Hospital by the World Health Organization were transported to Egypt on Monday. Three others were transferred to an Emirati-run hospital in Rafah in southern Gaza, the Red Crescent said. More than 250 critically ill or wounded patients remain stranded at the Al-Shifa compound, which Israeli forces stormed days ago.

In a separate development that could relieve some of the pressure on Gaza's collapsing health system, dozens of trucks entered from Egypt on Monday with equipment from Jordan to set up a field hospital in Khan Younis.

In developments on the hostage talks, a source briefed on the talks told Reuters on Tuesday that a Qatar-mediated agreement between Israel and Hamas for the release of hostages and a multiday pause in hostilities is in its "final stages" and is "closer than it has ever been".

The deal brokers the release of around 50 civilian hostages by Hamas and the release of Palestinian women and children from Israeli custody, the source said.

The chief of Hamas told Reuters earlier on Tuesday that the Palestinian militant group was near a truce agreement with Israel.

Negotiations to free hostages seized in Hamas' Oct 7 attack on Israel are at their "closest point" to a deal and have reached the "final stage", mediator Qatar said on Tuesday.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday progress was being made on the release of hostages.

"We are making progress. I don't think it's worth saying too much, not at even this moment," he told reservists according to a statement from his office.

Agencies - Xinhua