UN warns that inadequate housing and sanitation in Gaza is making life unliveable

The United Nations warned that the current living situation for Palestinians is dire and will worsen as winter approaches, the UN News reported on Wednesday.

UN humanitarian partners warned that shelter supplies entering Gaza remain far below what is needed. Fewer than 60,000 tents and just over 300,000 tarpaulins and bedding items have entered since early September, for a population that was 2.3 million before the war. 

Israel's destruction of Gaza’s wastewater treatment system during its war on the strip has led to UN humanitarian partners describing sanitation across the enclave as “deplorable”.

In northern Gaza, emergency measures are being taken to drain sewage into the sea.

The sanitation situation has led to an increase in worsening public health outcomes, including the spread of bacterial infections linked to contaminated water and waste.