The word “gauze” may have originated from the Palestinian territory Gaza, but even that wound care staple is running out in the besieged region. According to the Palestinian Health Ministry, over 30,000 people, mostly women and children, have now been confirmed dead in Gaza as a result of the ongoing siege and bombardment by Israel, with over 70,000 injured, although these figures are considered to almost certainly be undercounts.
The conflict was sparked in retaliation for the Hamas massacre of approximately 1,200 civilians and soldiers and kidnapping of around 250 others on Oct. 7th. Now more than two million people — the entire surviving population of Gaza — are housing insecure and living in unsanitary conditions. The majority, especially in the north, are acutely starving. The untenable situation has threatened to spill over into neighboring nations, with many implications for global conflict. One issue which might not immediately come to mind, but which ought to concern us all, is antimicrobial resistance (AMR).
