Six newborns in the Gaza Strip every hour

Palestine

Published: 2018-01-03 12:44

Last Updated: 2024-03-28 16:58


2017 witnessed an increase in newborns by one percent compared to last year’s figures.
 2017 witnessed an increase in newborns by one percent compared to last year’s figures.

A statistic issued by the Palestinian Civil Status Department and released on Wednesday, read that the Gaza Strip branches witnessed the registration of more than 58 newborns.

The statistic also revealed that 160 newborns are delivered per day, at a rate of 6 per hour.

Civil status offices in the Gaza Strip are divided into five branches, and are distributed according to the areas.

However, the figures do not include all Gazan newborns, as many of them are born outside Gaza as their parents were not able to come back due to the blockade.

According to the statistic, 2017 witnessed an increase in newborns by one percent compared to last year’s figures.

Earlier in July, the UN warned that Gaza Strip might have become “uninhabitable” after more than 10 years of Hamas rule and blockade by Israel.

Two million Palestinians have been living under Israeli besiegement for 10 years, experiencing three devastating wars with the latter between 2008 and 2014.

Egyptian authorities seal off the only way into Gaza not controlled by Israel, Rafah Border Crossing, which has been sealed since the toppling of President Mohammad Morsi in 2013.

The UN report titled “Gaza - after 10 years” said that more than 95 per cent of the water in the Strip is not suitable for human consumption.

The Strip has been facing power shortage problems as Israel announced it would be reducing electricity supplies to Gaza to a rate of 45 minutes per day from the three to four hour rate it used to receive.