A boys mourns over the body of a loved one killed in overnight Israeli bombardment on northen Gaza, at the Ahli Arab Hospital, also known as the Maamadani (Baptist) Hospital, in Gaza City on April 3, 2025. (Photo by Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)
Ramallah: The Palestinian Ministry of Health renewed its warning about the dire deterioration of the healthcare system in Gaza amid the ongoing and escalating Israeli aggression and severe blockade, which led to an almost complete collapse of the sector at a time when medical and humanitarian needs are reaching unprecedented levels.
In a statement, the ministry stated that hospitals and healthcare facilities in Gaza are operating far beyond their capacity, facing severe shortages of medicines, medical supplies, and the fuel needed to run essential equipment and generators. This threatens the lives of thousands of patients and wounded individuals, especially children, pregnant women, and the elderly.
It also added that the food crisis and famine have worsened, with patients and civilians suffering from acute shortages of food and clean drinking water, further exacerbating the humanitarian and health disaster.
The ministry called on friendly and allied nations, as well as humanitarian organizations, to take immediate action and pressure Israel to open border crossings without delay to allow the entry of medicines, medical supplies, and fuel. It also urged urgent delivery of food aid to save patients, children, and those in need amid worsening hunger and malnutrition.
Reiterating its appeals, the ministry stressed the need for international medical teams to support exhausted local healthcare workers operating under inhumane and extreme conditions. It also called for the establishment of humanitarian corridors to transfer the wounded and critically ill patients to hospitals in the West Bank or abroad for treatment.
The ministry warned that continued international silence in the face of this health catastrophe only worsens the crisis and places a moral and legal responsibility on the global community to address the urgent medical, nutritional, and humanitarian needs of the Palestinian people. It called for immediate international intervention to salvage what remains of the healthcare system and prevent an even greater humanitarian disaster.