DaysofPal – Israel’s more than two-year war has devastated Gaza’s healthcare system, leaving doctors and medical staff struggling to treat patients with damaged equipment and dwindling resources. A ceasefire in place since October has not reduced the danger faced by the sick and wounded.
Gaza’s Health Ministry reports that more than 1,700 healthcare workers, including doctors, nurses, and paramedics, have been killed since the war began. The United Nations has accused Israel of deliberately targeting medical facilities and personnel in an effort to dismantle the enclave’s health infrastructure.
Every medical facility in Gaza has been damaged or destroyed. At Al-Aqsa Hospital in central Gaza, doctors have issued urgent appeals for assistance after the hospital’s two main generators stopped working.
Reporting from Gaza City, Al Jazeera’s Tareq Abu Azzoum described generators as the heartbeat of hospitals in Gaza, powering ventilators, incubators, operating rooms, and dialysis machines. Those lifelines are now failing, placing critically ill patients in intensive care at grave risk.
The hospital lacks the fuel and spare parts required to repair and maintain its generators. Without them, doctors warn that the remaining capacity of the healthcare system could collapse. Two small backup generators remain in operation, though medical teams say they are unreliable and incapable of sustaining essential life-saving services. They could shut down at any moment due to fuel shortages and the absence of replacement parts.
Hospital administrators may soon be forced to ration electricity to preserve power for the most critical wards. The crisis is expected to worsen if spare parts and oil are not allowed into Gaza.
Despite a United States-backed ceasefire that took effect on October 10, Israeli forces have continued attacks and have restricted the entry of medical aid trucks and humanitarian supplies. Nearly 600 Palestinians have been killed since the ceasefire began.
The Health Ministry describes the situation as an ongoing health emergency. Most hospitals are out of service. Essential medicines are scarce. Equipment is severely limited. Staffing levels are critically low, with 95 Palestinian doctors and medical workers still held by Israel, including 80 from Gaza.
Since October 2023, more than 72,000 Palestinians have been killed and 171,000 wounded in Israel’s war on Gaza, according to local health authorities. The destruction of medical infrastructure has left hundreds of thousands without adequate care, compounding an already catastrophic humanitarian crisis.
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