In Gaza, women converted a sewing workshop into a diaper factory due to a shortage of supplies

The Humanitarian crisis in Gaza deepens with shortages of supplies and food. The WHO warns that severe malnutrition in the Palestinian enclave has increased more than 14% in a matter of weeks, while medical infrastructure remains under attack by Israel.

For mothers like Layla Al-Dayeh, the shortage of supplies in Gaza, as a result of the war, makes the situation even more critical for their children: “Diapers are very expensive, 400 shekels for a box”
This is a figure equivalent to about 427 thousand Colombian pesos. Faced with the need, these women have converted their sewing workshop in Rafah into a diaper factory. They use whatever they find, even lab coats, to create patchworks.

“We sew cotton and gauze on the gowns to make the diapers,” said Meysa Al-Katati, owner of the establishment.

Meanwhile, hunger is also worsening: the world food program was forced to suspend food distribution in northern Gaza, since there are no security guarantees for deliveries. A decision that comes while World Health Organization assures that severe malnutrition has skyrocketed to more than 15% in Gaza in the almost 5 months of war.

“¿What a world we live in when people can’t get food or water, when they can’t walk to seek medical care.“,” said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director of the WHO.

The WHO reiterates the critical situation in medical centers in the Gaza Strip and has completed a second evacuation of the Nasser hospital amid power outages.

Among those who fled is the surgeon Ahmed Al-Mughraby, who cries in the midst of helplessness: “How many of us have to die for us to be heard, for these crimes to stop?”.

According to the WHO, more than 130 patients remain in that hospital in southern Gaza, besieged by Israel last week. There are only 15 nurses and doctors left to care for them.