WHO: Gaza on the brink of total health system collapse

During a press briefing in Geneva, Dr Hanan Balkhy, WHO’s Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean, said that approximately 64% of essential medical equipment has reached zero stock levels, along with 43% of medications and 42% of critical vaccines.

Dr Balkhy confirmed that 51 WHO relief trucks remain stranded at Gaza’s border, awaiting clearance to enter despite the urgent and growing need for their contents.

With evident distress, she added: “Can you imagine a surgeon treating a fracture without anaesthetic? That’s the reality in Gaza’s hospitals today. Even IV fluids, syringes, and bandages are now in dangerously short supply.”

She also warned of a severe shortage of vital medicines, including antibiotics, painkillers, and treatments for chronic illnesses, noting that the continued lack of supplies poses an imminent threat to hundreds of thousands of patients and injured individuals in the besieged enclave.

Since 2 March, Israeli authorities have tightened the blockade on Gaza, preventing the entry of any humanitarian, medical, food or fuel aid, as well as all other supplies essential for sustaining life in the territory.

It is worth noting that since the onset of its campaign of mass destruction on 7 October 2023, Zionist regime has systematically targeted Gaza’s healthcare infrastructure—bombing hospitals, besieging and raiding them, killing doctors, medical workers, and displaced civilians sheltering there, and detaining others.