Gaza’s health sector is now in an ‘unprecedented crisis’

As Israeli bombardment continues unabated, the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza has warned of a complete collapse of the health sector, describing the current situation as having exceeded the limits of a crisis and reached unprecedented catastrophic levels.

The situation is not limited to the inability of hospitals to function and the depletion of medicines, but extends to the grim humanitarian picture experienced by the population: patients facing death without treatment, the wounded piling up in narrow corridors, and families forced to flee under bombardment to places that lack the most basic necessities of life. It is a complex tragedy, in which hunger and deprivation are compounded by the fear of direct targeting.

Triangle of death in Gaza

The ministry said that the sick and wounded are trapped in what it called “a triangle of terror: hunger, bombing, and deprivation of treatment.” It explained that indicators for essential medicines and medical consumables “have exceeded all red lines,” while medical staff are working with depleted stocks that no longer allow them to continue.

The ministry stressed that “many patients and wounded are facing critical moments with unpredictable outcomes” in the absence of urgent life-saving supplies, warning that the health system is “breathing its last breath.”

The Ministry of Health called on all international and humanitarian agencies to “exercise their full humanitarian influence to ensure the entry and delivery of emergency medical supplies to hospitals in the sector,” stressing that any delay would mean the loss of more lives that could have been saved.

Forced displacement

In parallel with the collapse of the health system, the residents of the Gaza Strip are facing forced displacement under bombardment. The ministry confirmed that the Israeli occupation is pushing thousands of families into the Al-Mawasi area, which has been turned into overcrowded “concentration camps” that lack the most basic necessities of life, such as water, food, and health services.

These temporary camps have become a breeding ground for the spread of dangerous diseases, in the absence of adequate medical care, while the displaced there are directly targeted for killing, either while they are there or when they try to leave, in flagrant violation of all humanitarian and international laws.

A humanitarian disaster

The picture painted by the Ministry of Health reflects an open humanitarian disaster with an unknown outcome: hospitals are overwhelmed, doctors are working to the point of exhaustion, medicines are in short supply, and civilians are being forced to flee to environments that are unfit for human habitation. As the health and humanitarian crisis worsens, the international community’s response remains slow and confused in the face of the escalating tragedy in Gaza.

Featured image via the Canary