Preterm births and malnutrition in children have increased in Gaza due to worsening conditions over the past nine months, according to a Hong Kong nurse and midwife who has been on the ground with the medical charity Médecins Sans Frontières.

Krystal So, who recently returned from a month in Gaza, said she encountered dire conditions including overwhelming patient numbers, supply shortages and unsafe conditions for pregnant women.

"You can imagine running a hospital, we need a lot of specific medical supplies, for example, what we wear, what we use for medication. The most urgent need is water and fuel," she said.

So said many healthcare centres had been destroyed by airstrikes which led to an overwhelming influx of patients on a daily basis at the Nasser Hospital in southern Gaza where she worked.

She added that Gaza's sealed borders prevented essential medical and daily necessities from reaching hospitals.