Gaza (Palestine Foundation Information Center), Bassem Zaqout, director of Medical Relief in Gaza, warned on Monday that the health system in the Gaza Strip is rapidly heading toward a major collapse, as the situation continues to deteriorate amid ongoing Israeli attacks on various areas from north to south, coupled with severe shortages of medical personnel, operational supplies, and energy.
In press statements, Zaqout said medical teams are facing extremely difficult conditions in dealing with the growing number of wounded, particularly at night when power cuts leave areas in complete darkness. He added that extensive damage to roads and infrastructure has also made it impossible for ambulances to reach many areas.
He explained that severe shortages of medical staff and the ongoing electricity crisis have reduced the operating capacity of hospitals and operating theaters to its lowest levels. He pointed out that securing fuel to run generators has become one of the biggest obstacles to maintaining health services.
The Medical Relief official said health centers have been forced to reduce their operating hours by 70 to 80 percent, while staff are relying on temporary daily solutions to maintain only essential services amid ongoing security risks and repeated bombardment.
Zaqout strongly condemned the late targeting of remote and hard-to-reach areas, saying such attacks make it even more difficult for ambulances and medical teams to reach the wounded, exposing patients and injured people to additional risks.
He warned of the humanitarian and medical consequences of preventing the recovery of unclaimed bodies and restricting the retrieval of bodies and remains of those killed from under the rubble. He also highlighted the difficult conditions faced by Palestinian prisoners, including doctors and healthcare workers detained in Israeli prisons.
The warning comes as Gaza’s health system faces a severe crisis due to the destruction or suspension of a large number of health facilities and persistent shortages of medicines, medical supplies, energy, and personnel. These conditions have significantly reduced hospitals’ ability to receive patients and wounded people and provide essential services.
Zaqout stressed that allowing these conditions to continue risks turning the current deterioration into a broader collapse of the health system, particularly in the absence of safe conditions that would allow medical personnel to work normally. He also pointed to the continued attacks and restrictions obstructing the access of ambulances and medical supplies to affected areas.
Zaqout’s warning is consistent with a report documented by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), which highlighted the declining capacity to provide several critical healthcare services.
In its latest report, OCHA noted that approximately 45 to 50 percent of dialysis machines at Al-Shifa Hospital have become non-operational due to shortages of essential supplies required for dialysis. This has reduced treatment capacity for around 240 patients suffering from kidney failure, forcing the hospital to reduce the number and duration of dialysis sessions in order to maintain minimum services.
OCHA also warned of rising health risks at displacement sites, where more than 9,300 cases of chickenpox were reportedly recorded at more than 1,300 sites within just two weeks. The outbreak occurred amid severe overcrowding, deteriorating sanitation and drainage conditions, accumulations of waste, and the spread of rodents and insects.
According to the report, the presence of approximately 1.7 million people across more than 1,600 displacement sites is further increasing the risk of disease outbreaks and placing additional pressure on an already severely under-resourced health system.
