GAZA, (The Palestine Foundation Pakistan) The Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza has issued an urgent call to save what remains of the health system in the Strip, warning of a deliberate and total collapse of the sector, which it described as a “pillar of human existence” in Gaza, two years after the ongoing Israeli genocide.
In a statement released Tuesday, the ministry said that the situation in Gaza goes far beyond a humanitarian crisis.
It labeled the destruction of the health system as a form of “healthocide,” pointing to the systematic targeting of hospital and medical infrastructure. Most facilities have been reduced to empty concrete shells, lacking the basic capacity to provide diagnostic and therapeutic care.
The ministry reported that over the past two years, the total number of casualties reached 67,173 martyrs and 169,780 injured, including 20,179 children, 10,427 women, 4,813 elderly, and 31,754 men.
It also documented the martyrdom of 1,701 medical staff and the detention of 362 health workers under forced imprisonment and deprived of basic human rights.
Of 38 hospitals in Gaza, 25 have been rendered non-operational, while only 13 continue to function partially under extremely difficult conditions. Additionally, Israeli attacks destroyed 103 primary healthcare centers out of 157, leaving only 54 centers partially operational.
The ministry also warned that interruptions in regular medical supplies and the obstruction of safe delivery have worsened shortages of medications and medical consumables.
Currently, 55% of essential medicines, 66% of medical consumables, and 68% of laboratory supplies are completely depleted.
Hospital bed occupancy reached 225% by the end of September, compared with 82% in the same period last year, a figure the ministry described as “catastrophic” amid rising numbers of injuries and critical cases.
Direct targeting of health institutions has also destroyed 25 of 35 oxygen production stations and 61 of 110 electrical generators, severely hampering hospitals’ ability to function amid ongoing power outages.
The statement highlighted growing levels of famine in the Strip, reporting 460 deaths from hunger and malnutrition, including 154 children, while 51,196 children under five suffer from severe malnutrition.
Population overcrowding in forced assembly areas has fueled the spread of diseases, contaminated drinking water, and food scarcity. Vaccination coverage for children has dropped to 80% due to vaccine blockades, and the fourth stage of the polio immunization program has been halted.
The ministry further stated that 4,900 amputees and disabled persons urgently require assistive devices and long-term rehabilitation programs, while the closure of crossings has prevented 18,000 patients, including 5,580 children, from traveling abroad for medical treatment.
Despite the dire circumstances, medical teams in Gaza City continue to fulfill their humanitarian and national duties, risking their lives to provide care.
The Ministry of Health concluded with an urgent appeal to international and humanitarian bodies to intervene immediately, ensure the delivery of medical supplies, maintain essential services, hold Israel accountable for systematically undermining Gaza’s health system, protect patients’ rights, and guarantee the safety of medical and emergency teams.
Gaza health crisis, Israeli genocide, medical system collapse, humanitarian emergency, children malnutrition
