NGOs warn Gaza health system is near complete collapse

The network said, during a press conference on Sunday that the continuation of current conditions threatens to bring health facilities to a point where they are unable to continue providing basic services, at a time when medical needs are increasing and available capabilities for the health sector are shrinking.

It emphasized that the Israeli occupation forces continue to restrict humanitarian work and target the health system, demanding that the international community exert pressure to resupply Gaza Strip with electricity, and lift restrictions imposed on the entry of health materials that Israel prevents from entering under the pretext of classifying them within the so-called “double use.”

Warnings of collapse of remaining health sector

The NGO Network warned that the health system in Gaza faces what it described as a “collective death sentence,” calling on the international community to take urgent action to stop what it considered systematic destruction of what remains of the medical sector.

These warnings come amid a sharp decline in the operational capacity of health facilities, as circulated data indicates that 26 hospitals out of 38 have gone out of service, as a result of direct targeting since the start of the war.

The health sector also suffers from a significant shortage of medicines and medical consumables, as the deficit in medicines is estimated at about 50%, while the shortage in medical consumables reaches about 58%. In the oxygen sector, only 12 stations out of 34 stations are operating, which doubles the risks facing intensive care patients and patients who depend on oxygen continuously.

A crisis not limited to medicines

The crisis of the health sector does not stop at the shortage of medicines and supplies, as the movement of transporting medical personnel faces a worsening crisis that in turn threatens the regularity of work inside health facilities.

According to data from the Ministry of Health, 99 buses face probable stopping due to restrictions on the entry of tires, batteries, and oils, which threatens the ability of medical crews to reach their workplaces, and increases the difficulty of operating facilities that already suffer from an acute shortage of resources. In parallel with that, medical referrals for the sick and wounded accumulate, as media estimates indicate the presence of about 20,000 medical referrals waiting for their owners, amid ongoing restrictions imposed on travel through the crossings.

Fuel and oils: A crisis threatening generators

Hospitals and health facilities face another crisis related to the energy needed to operate them, amid the electricity outage in Gaza Strip since October 2023. With the ongoing power outage, health facilities have become primarily dependent on generators, which in turn face an acute shortage of oils, spare parts, and maintenance materials, threatening their ability to continue working.

Data indicates that the price of a liter of oil, when available, reached about 1,000 dollars, while hospitals were forced to reuse burned oils in primitive ways, in an attempt to maintain the operation of generators despite warnings of the possibility of their breakdown. The generators used to operate health facilities need about 2,500 liters of oils monthly, making the continuation of limitations on the entry of these materials an additional factor threatening the continuity of medical services.

Stopping diesel support doubles the danger

In a development that increases pressure on the non-governmental health sector, the World Health Organization informed 20 non-governmental health facilities, including 13 hospitals and seven health centers, of stopping supplying them with diesel starting from September 19, due to lack of funding. This comes at a time when a large part of the health sector in Gaza depends on fuel to operate generators and medical equipment, making any decline in diesel supplies a direct threat to the continuity of health services.

NGOs warn that the continuation of these crises simultaneously, from the shortage of medicines and medical consumables, to the scarcity of fuel, oils, and spare parts, the breakdown of oxygen stations, the difficulty of transporting personnel, and the accumulation of medical referrals, pushes the health system toward a more dangerous stage, in which it may lose its ability to respond to the basic needs of the sick and wounded in the Strip.