The Gaza Strip’s healthcare system is on the brink of collapse, facing shortages of medical supplies, lack of access to electricity, and overcrowding.
To save electricity for respirators and other life-sustaining equipment, doctors in the Gaza Strip have been working under the light of their cell phones for several days.
The Health Ministry says the lack of generator fuel is not the only problem as some doctors must now perform surgeries without anaesthesia.
But, one by one, the enclave’s hospitals are going black, with 10 of 35 now shut down as Israel’s embargo on crucial supplies, including gasoline for generators, enters its third week.
According to Dr. Mohammed Qandeel at the Naser Hospital, ’’ we have part of the hospital now without electricity and the ICUs without water.’’
“A premature baby survived an emergency caesarean section performed on his dead mother, Maryam, in the neonatal intensive care unit of al-Shifa Hospital following an air attack on her home,” said Dr. Mohammand Salamel at the Emirates Red Crescent Hospital.
Despite this, few people are left to mourn the deaths of women like Maryam, who never saw her baby. This week, 700 Palestinians were killed in a single night, the highest number in 24 hours since the conflict began. Dr.Salamel added.
Gaza’s Health Ministry further added that, the medical system is completely broken. Israel’s blockade of food, fuel, and other supplies is making it even worse. Among the most vulnerable are premature babies, who depend on ventilators and other delicate equipment to survive.
Speaking after witnessing an explosion only a few hundred meters from him and his family, Abdulrahman stated, “Israel wants us in eternal exile and terrorised till the very end of our lives.”
This week, churches that serve as safe havens were also bombed, with the oldest Greek Orthodox church in the region falling victim, and neither were journalists.
This week, Hamas released two captives, but the group claimed Israel refused to accept them, which the Israeli government dismissed as propaganda.
Despite the constant terror and trauma of missiles and the siege, a community has formed. Large pots of food are prepared daily on the pavement outside the Abu Assi family’s home in the southern Gaza town of Bani Suhaila to feed thousands of displaced Palestinians.