Israeli genocide in Palestine aggravates epidemics, denounces Cuba

Havana, July 31 (RHC) The cause of the polio epidemic that threatens the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip is the genocide committed by Israel against that people, Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez denounced on Wednesday.

In a message published on the social network X, the Cuban Foreign Minister affirmed that "the cruel Israeli attacks have caused harsh living conditions for the Gazans, depriving them of drinking water and sanitation and hygiene infrastructure".

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the polio virus has been identified in wastewater samples collected from six sites in Khan Younis and Deir al Balah.

It is a highly contagious disease linked to the catastrophic health situation caused by the conflict, the WHO said recently.

The government of the Caribbean Island has repeatedly accused the Zionist government of perpetrating a genocide against the Palestinian enclave with the complicity of the United States and other Western countries, which has already caused the death of more than 35,000 people, mostly children and the elderly.

Since October 7, the army of the Hebrew state has been indiscriminately shelling civilian areas and buildings, including schools, hospitals and settlements for people displaced by the conflict.

According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, the health sector in the Gaza Strip has collapsed and is treating only 15 percent of the wounded who arrive daily at the few health centers that are still providing services; in this war scenario, it is impossible to treat those suffering from chronic diseases, nor to treat people affected by epidemics caused by overcrowding in shelters and the destruction of the sewage system, according to Palestinian health authorities. (Source: Prensa Latina).