GAZA (Palestine Foundation Information Center) Dr. Munir Al-Bursh, Director General of the Ministry of Health in Gaza, has issued a stark warning that the Gaza Strip is “gasping for breath,” as Israeli forces escalate their assault using what he described as new and unfamiliar weapons that are causing severe burns and grotesquely disfiguring injuries.
In his statement, Dr. Al-Bursh reported that the health system is in a state of collapse, with a critical shortage of basic antiseptics, medicines, and effective antibiotics, leaving wounds open and untreated. “We simply cannot manage these injuries due to the acute lack of essential medical supplies,” he said.
He condemned Israel’s repeated massacres targeting displaced civilians in shelters, calling it a failure of the international community to restrain Israeli aggression. According to Dr. Al-Bursh, Gaza is suffocating under relentless aerial and artillery bombardment.
The health official further criticized the collapse of international institutional support, citing UNICEF’s abandonment of 15,000 children who have died in Gaza, and its failure to assist over 50,000 pregnant women, leading to a sharp decline in birth rates across the besieged territory.
He also accused Israel of using starvation as a method of warfare, noting that for over 34 days, no food, medical supplies, disinfectants, or international medical missions have been allowed into Gaza, in what he described as a deliberate siege on life-saving humanitarian aid.
Hospitals, he added, are overwhelmed beyond capacity, unable to cope with the staggering number of wounded. The situation has been compounded by the loss of around 400 medical professionals, including 200 with rare and critical specializations, who have either been killed, detained, or forced to flee the Gaza Strip.
Dr. Fadel Naeem, Director of the Baptist Hospital in Gaza, has described the health situation in the besieged enclave as catastrophic and entirely out of control, citing the relentless Israeli attacks and massacres as the primary cause of the system’s collapse.
In a public statement, Dr. Naeem said the healthcare system is overwhelmed, exhausted, and incapable of coping with the current crisis under continued pressure. He further stressed that fuel shortages have crippled hospital operations, making it impossible to deliver even basic medical services.
He called for an immediate halt to Israeli aggression, particularly the repeated massacres, and demanded the opening of border crossings to allow the entry of medical personnel, critical medical supplies, and fuel, all essential for sustaining healthcare operations.
Dr. Naeem also urged the international community to facilitate the evacuation of thousands of injured Palestinians in need of urgent treatment abroad, as a means of alleviating pressure on Gaza’s broken health system. He noted that no medical supplies have reached Gaza since the ceasefire breakdown.
Highlighting the extreme limitations facing Gaza’s medical infrastructure, he revealed that there is only one functioning CT scanner in the entire northern Gaza Strip, while dozens are urgently needed.
Earlier today, Israeli forces carried out yet another deadly attack on displaced civilians in eastern Gaza City, raising the death toll across the Strip to over 100 since dawn Thursday.
The ongoing assault on Gaza continues to inflict devastating harm on civilians and has pushed the territory’s healthcare system to the brink of total collapse, in flagrant violation of international humanitarian law, which mandates the protection of medical facilities, personnel, and patients during armed conflict.
