A sharp rise in infectious diseases is sweeping through Gaza’s displaced population, with children under five facing the gravest danger. Dr Ayman Abu Rahma, Director of Preventive Medicine at Gaza’s Health Ministry, warns that overcrowding, malnutrition, and a crippled healthcare system have created the perfect storm for an outbreak.

Seasonal illnesses, such as diarrhoea, are spreading unchecked, but more worrying is the emergence of non-seasonal threats like meningitis. Thirty cases have already been confirmed, including ten children admitted to Al-Tahrir Hospital at the Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis, one of the few remaining functional facilities in the region.

The lack of testing, medicine, and intravenous fluids is making diagnosis and treatment nearly impossible. Surveillance systems have collapsed, making it difficult even to assess the full scale of the crisis.

With health centres shut down, shelters overflowing, and children growing weaker from hunger each day, disease is spreading fast. As Gaza’s health system disintegrates under siege, the risk is no longer just from bombs, but from the slow, silent killer of preventable illness.