What is the reason for the prevalence of polio in Gaza ?
Since October 7, 2023, the majority of Gaza's 36 hospitals and healthcare systems have been targeted by bombings or subjected to a blockade by the apartheid state of Israel. This has created a situation of uncertainty in the Gaza Strip, with the potential for a large number of casualties and an imminent public health disaster.
On July 16, 2024, the Ministry of Health of Gaza reported that poliovirus had been identified in 6 wastewater samples collected in late June from Khan Younis and Deir al-Balah. On July 23, 2024, the World Health Organization, better known as the WHO, announced that the poliovirus had a significant likelihood of spreading throughout and beyond the Gaza Strip due to the extremely poor condition of water sanitation in the area. In the beginning of this month, Abdul Rahman, an 11-month-old infant, received a diagnosis of polio, marking the first documented instance of this disease in Gaza in the past 25 years. Niveen Abu al-Jidyan, the mother, recounted the progression of her child's condition from fever and vomiting to experiencing partial paralysis. Now, it is evident that the near-total collapse of healthcare facilities in Gaza has left the current medical staff without the necessary resources to address the imminent public health disaster.
The reemergence of the poliovirus is intimately linked to the genocidal actions carried out by the state of Israel. Since October 7, more than 70 percent of the water and sanitation facilities in Gaza have suffered substantial damage. The UN Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Cluster estimates that around 340,000 tons of solid waste have built up inside or near residential areas.
The poliovirus is mostly spread through the "fecal-oral" route, which involves direct contact with the faeces of a child with the virus or the ingestion of water or food contaminated with fecal matter. Approximately 2 million Palestinians, primarily children and adolescents, have been forcefully relocated to cramped and unsanitary refugee facilities in Gaza, resulting in restricted availability of clean water and proper sanitation. Oxfam's estimation in June revealed that there is only one toilet available for every four thousand individuals residing in the Al-Mawasi area, which is considered a 'safe zone' but was recently subjected to an Israeli assault.
Israeli soldiers stationed in the Gaza Strip will soon receive poliovirus vaccinations. This indicates that the State of Israel foresaw the health problem resulting from their genocidal campaign in the enclave. The utilization of health as a tool for aggression is a longstanding practice of the settler colonial state. In fact, the intentional targeting of healthcare systems goes beyond mere violations of human rights, revealing underlying power dynamics rooted in settler colonialism. This is closely tied to the concept of necropolitics, where marginalized groups are devalued and deemed expendable, as certain lives are considered less significant than others.
The ongoing obstruction of humanitarian assistance to Gaza is exacerbating the already weakened healthcare system, while incessant attacks increase the vulnerability to disease. In November 2023, the World Health Organization (WHO) documented a significant rise in the number of diarrhea episodes, specifically highlighting a severe indication of acute jaundice syndrome in the enclave. In November 2023, there was a higher incidence of disease among infants and children, which remains the case in August 2024.
When governments approach governance by focusing on managing and regulating the population within their jurisdiction, it leads to a deliberate strategy of war known as necropolitics. This strategy involves determining which individuals survive and which individuals are slain. The deliberate deconstruction of healthcare systems in the Gaza Strip, along with the control over clean water and the worsening sewage situation, will have long-lasting effects even when the genocide ends. Forcibly displaced Palestinians are lacking sufficient facilities for medical treatment, with hospitals unable to handle testing and the threat of both contagious and non-contagious diseases growing steadily.
Aside from the physical injuries, the lack of proper nutrition, deliberate starvation, and forced relocation, this attack is causing a situation that can only be described as a 'mental health emergency'. It is a scenario that poses a significant public health crisis, putting all Palestinians at a high risk of developing psychosocial disabilities. Trauma is a direct result of the emotional distress caused by the loss of homes and means of living, as well as the firsthand experience of witnessing the consequences of displacement, severe injuries to family members, including dismemberment, and the occurrence of forced starvation in unsanitary refugee camps. The enduring psychosocial disabilities in Gaza, which will persist for generations, underscore the notion that there is no post-traumatic phase in the region.
As the American Congress applauds Benjamin Netanyahu for his endeavors to create a "de-radicalized post-war Gaza," the future of almost a million Palestinians who endured the genocide and fled to safety is being decided by a horrifying medical reality and a planned public health catastrophe, and wastewater is expected to inundate roads in Deir al-Balah.
The necropolitics of genocide have rendered the Gaza Strip and its inhabitants completely defenseless.