DaysofPal- The director of Gaza’s Al-Shifa Medical Complex, Dr. Mohammed Abu Salmiya, has warned that the territory’s health system is facing its most severe collapse since the beginning of the Israeli genocidal war, as hospitals run critically short of essential medicines and surgical supplies.
Speaking to Sanad News Agency on Thursday, Abu Salmiya said the intensified medical blockade and acute shortages of drugs and equipment have forced the suspension of thousands of surgeries, with many others postponed indefinitely.
He said operating rooms are experiencing near-total shutdown, particularly in orthopedic departments, noting that approximately 90 percent of anesthesia medications are unavailable. Severe shortages of sterile gauze have also affected most surgical theaters.
According to Abu Salmiya, thoracic and cardiac surgeries have reached “zero capacity,” leaving hospitals virtually unable to perform these critical procedures.
He added that cancer patients are facing life-threatening conditions due to the lack of surgical sutures and basic medical materials, stressing that patients with brain and gastrointestinal cancers requiring urgent operations currently have no treatment options.
Abu Salmiya also said the urology department has been forced to stop surgeries entirely because essential endoscopic equipment is unavailable.
“The health situation has seen no improvement for more than 100 days,” he said, warning that conditions continue to worsen rather than stabilize.
Describing the current period as exceptionally difficult, Abu Salmiya said the crisis has severely compromised hospitals’ ability to save lives. Thousands of surgeries remain delayed, while medical teams continue to perform only the most urgent procedures under the harsh and inhumane conditions, without adequate resources or alternatives.
“This reality puts patients’ lives at risk and deepens the scale of the humanitarian and health disaster in Gaza,” he said.
Israeli occupation forces continue to enforce a tight blockade on the Gaza Strip, including the closure of land crossings, most notably Rafah, preventing patients and wounded civilians from traveling abroad for medical treatment.
Gaza’s healthcare system has been devastated by nearly two years of war, which Palestinian officials describe as genocidal, alongside ongoing restrictions on the entry of medical aid and supplies.
Health officials said Israeli attacks have destroyed 103 of Gaza’s 157 primary healthcare centers, leaving only 54 partially operational.
Direct strikes have also damaged electrical and mechanical infrastructure, destroying 25 of 35 oxygen generation stations and 61 of 110 power generators, further accelerating the collapse of medical services across the enclave.
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