GAZA (Palestine Foundation Information Center) The Director of Al-Shifa Medical Complex in Gaza, Dr. Mohammad Abu Salmiya, issued dire warnings of an imminent medical catastrophe in the health sector, as fuel has completely run out in Gaza’s hospitals, threatening the lives of hundreds of patients and the wounded.
During a press conference held by the Ministry of Health in Gaza earlier today, Wednesday, Abu Salmiya confirmed that all hospitals in the Strip, including Al-Shifa Medical Complex—the largest in Gaza—will cease operations within the next three hours if fuel is not urgently delivered. He said, “We are facing the imminent collapse of the healthcare system, and we have no alternatives if Al-Shifa Hospital stops functioning.”
He explained that the intensive care units, neonatal units, and dialysis centers will completely shut down, putting the lives of hundreds of patients at risk, including around 100 premature babies, 13 patients in intensive care, and 350 kidney failure patients who rely on regular dialysis sessions to stay alive.
He warned that operating rooms would cease to function, and hospitals would no longer be able to perform any surgical operations for the wounded, at a time when war injuries are worsening and epidemics, foremost among them meningitis, are spreading amid a complete inability to provide treatment.
Abu Salmiya added that oxygen stations, laboratories, and blood banks would also stop working, turning hospitals into “mass graves” due to the fuel shortage. He noted that Al-Shifa Hospital had already shut down its dialysis unit because of the fuel scarcity and warned that the situation in the northern part of the Strip is even more catastrophic.
He continued, “Water scarcity in Gaza has reached 90%, which negatively impacts the hospital environment and its ability to confront the spread of diseases. We call on the world to immediately bring in fuel, operate water stations, and provide blood units to save the lives of patients.”
The Director of Al-Shifa accused Israel of continuing its policy of supplying minimal fuel in a restricted, drip-feed manner, warning that this policy does not meet even the bare minimum of needs and is being used as a tool of pressure to undermine what remains of the healthcare sector.
For his part, the Director of Field Hospitals in Gaza, Dr. Marwan Al-Hems, warned that the healthcare sector is living its final hours, saying, “Hundreds could lose their lives at any moment. The situation is catastrophic by every measure. The number of wounded continues to rise, and epidemics are ravaging the people amid a complete inability to respond medically.”
He confirmed that if this situation continues, dozens of premature babies in incubators will die within just two days, while “death is creeping on the wings of power outages and complete operational paralysis.”
Since October 7, 2023, Israel, with US backing, has been committing genocide in the Gaza Strip, involving killing, starvation, destruction, and displacement, while ignoring international appeals and orders from the International Court of Justice to stop.
The genocide has resulted in approximately 194,000 Palestinians killed or wounded, most of them children and women, more than 11,000 missing persons, hundreds of thousands displaced, famine claiming the lives of many including children, and vast destruction.
