The United Nations says skin diseases are spreading rapidly across Gaza’s overcrowded displacement camps as summer approaches, raising fears of a wider public health emergency.
UNRWA said reported cases of skin infections have tripled in recent months, with scabies and chickenpox among the most common illnesses affecting children in particular. UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said infections in UN-run shelters climbed from about 3,000 in January to nearly 10,000 in recent weeks.
Aid workers and doctors say the outbreak is being driven by extreme overcrowding, poor sanitation, limited access to clean water, and shortages of medicine and hygiene supplies. Health workers in central Gaza say the disease is difficult to contain because people are living in close contact inside tents and makeshift shelters.
