The World Health Organization (WHO) has issued a warning about patients undergoing surgeries without anesthesia in Gaza due to severe shortages, with the WHO’s own medicine warehouse in the area now depleted. Healthcare providers are facing incredibly difficult decisions as their medical supplies decrease in the middle of an Israeli-imposed siege. Despite efforts to establish a humanitarian corridor with Egypt, it has not been implemented till date.
The ongoing blockade, combined with recurring Israeli bombings affecting the 42km-long enclave, has led to “severe shortages” of crucial items such as morphine, saline solution, and surgical equipment, with the World Health Organization warning that these supplies will be exhausted “within days.” Both local and general anesthetics throughout the strip are at the brink of complete depletion, and blood banks have only a two-week supply remaining, as stated by WHO officials. Additionally, medications for conditions like high blood pressure, diabetes, seizures, dialysis, and heart disease are in critically short supply.
According to WHO, the situation in Gaza is reaching a critical point where it would be nearly impossible to evacuate the wounded, potentially constituting a war crime of forcible transfer. The WHO has documented 57 attacks on healthcare facilities, resulting in the deaths of 16 healthcare workers.
The United Nations has raised concerns about the depletion of clean water throughout the strip, home to over 2 million people, with half of them being children. The remaining fuel for hospital generators is expected to run out in a matter of days, and food supplies are reducing, raising fears that civilians may break down to thirst, waterborne diseases, hunger, and bombings.
British-Palestinian surgeon Ghassan Abu-Sittah reported to BBC News on Monday that Al-Shifa Hospital was depleting a month’s worth of medical supplies in just one day. He emphasized the daily and “overwhelming” influx of injured individuals arriving at the hospital, with new patients arriving every five minutes via ambulances.
The responsibility for the tragic hospital explosion remains unclear, with Palestinian authorities attributing it to Israel and Israel pointing the blame at a group in Gaza.
A strike on Tuesday night hit al-Ahli hospital in Gaza, which was serving as a shelter for hundreds of displaced individuals. Gaza’s health ministry attributed the attack to Israel, reporting over 470 casualties. In contrast, the Israeli military actively denied these allegations and instead blamed a failed rocket launch by Palestinian Islamic Jihad, while also disputing the death toll figures.
