GENEVA, Oct 21, 2023 (BSS/TASS) - At least 30% of the housing sector in the Gaza Strip has been either destroyed or rendered uninhabitable, while hospitals are overwhelmed with patients, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reported.

"Since 7 October, at least 30 per cent of all housing units in the Gaza Strip have been either destroyed, rendered uninhabitable, or damaged," the Office said, referring to data from the Ministry of Housing in Gaza.
"Hospitals are on the brink and overcrowded with patients, many awaiting treatment," the OCHA said. It expressed concern "that 9,000 cancer patients lack adequate care because of conditions in Gaza's only chemotherapy hospital."

Hundreds of people including children have been trapped beneath the rubble amid airstrikes in Gaza. "Rescue teams, primarily from the Palestinian Civil Defense, are struggling to carry out their mission amid continuous airstrikes, severe shortages of fuel to run vehicles and equipment, and with limited or no connection to mobile networks," the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs stressed.

Meanwhile, Gaza has now been under full electricity blackout for 10 days, it went on to say.

"In the West Bank, 14 Palestinians have been killed in the past 24 hours. This brings the death toll of Palestinians killed by Israeli forces and settlers since 7 October to 79 people, including 20 children," the bulletin said.

Tensions flared up again in the Middle East on October 7 when militants from the radical Palestinian movement Hamas staged a surprise attack on Israeli territory from the Gaza Strip. Hamas described its attack as a response to the aggressive actions of Israeli authorities against the Al-Aqsa Mosque in the Old City of Jerusalem. Israel announced a total blockade of the Gaza Strip and has been delivering rocket attacks on Gaza as well as some districts in Lebanon and Syria. Clashes are also taking place in the West Bank.