Diseases may be spreading largely undetected due to the near-total collapse of surveillance and laboratory systems in the Palestinian territory, Teresa Zakaria, WHO’s unit head for humanitarian and disaster action, said.

She added that the living conditions in Gaza are so severe that “we can’t even describe it anymore”.

During a briefing in Geneva, she said that humanitarian access and diagnostic capacities remain “very limited” in Gaza, making early detection and response nearly impossible.

“What is very important here to highlight is that we are probably missing the vast majority of diseases that are spreading in the territory at the moment just because we have not been able to detect them,” Zakaria said.

She also reiterated calls for unimpeded deliveries of humanitarian supplies “to revive the health system and be able to detect these diseases” in Gaza.