Doctors in Gaza are facing an unprecedented humanitarian crisis as they struggle to care for a population exceeding 2 million Palestinians. With an Israeli blockade still preventing adequate humanitarian assistance from reaching Gazans, the health system is on the brink of collapse. Severe fuel shortages in the wake of this catastrophe have compounded this already desperate scenario. Hundreds of patients—including premature infants in incubators—no longer have a serious threat to their lives removed.
As conditions from the continuing 11-week blockade have driven Gaza into famine, this humanitarian disaster is only deepening. Stalled aid deliveries, partially resumed in May, have not been nearly enough to meet the huge needs of the affected population. This is a grave warning the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) just issued. They worry that death tolls may skyrocket unless new fuel is permitted into Gaza starting right now and in large quantities.
Israel’s restrictions on fuel entering Gaza are based on security concerns that Hamas might use it to produce weapons. Yet these restrictions have resulted in a devastating lack of resources needed to provide even the most basic health services. All hospitals in Gaza are now running low on supplies, and emergency services are being forced to work under these devastating conditions.
Dr. Mohammad Abu Silmiya from Al-Shifa Hospital emphasized the urgency of the situation, stating, “If the fuel is not made available in the next few hours to Al-Shifa hospital, the hospital will become out of service in the next three hours and this will lead to high number of deaths.” His comments are sadly indicative of the desperate situation that our healthcare workers are going through on the frontlines every day.
The health ministry in Gaza is warning of a critical situation for hundreds of patients. Of those babies, 22 depend on incubators to live and are now in life-threatening danger because of a loss of electricity and vital medical supplies. Dr. Fadel Naim expressed his concerns about the deteriorating conditions, noting that “the siege has turned routine care for premature babies into a life-or-death struggle.” He further stated, “Not only is the fuel a major problem for us to run the generators of the hospitals, our main problem now is finding spare parts for the generators to replace old ones.”
Doctors Without Borders (MSF) has voiced similar concerns. They’re demanding a ceasefire and an immediate significant increase in humanitarian aid to try and stop the suffering being caused in Gaza. They reported that their teams continue to treat the wounded and supply overwhelmed hospitals as “indiscriminate attacks and a state of siege threaten millions of men, women and children.”
The crisis has reached critical levels, with OCHA warning that “hospitals are rationing. Ambulances are stalling. Water systems are on the brink.” The group underscored that without prompt action from the Israeli government, the crisis will only escalate.
Aid groups have consistently pointed out that current aid deliveries into Gaza do not meet the scale of needs faced by its population. Fuel shortages are in turn worsening the situation and threatening to disable even basic services. This would make it necessary for even more hospitals to close their doors for good.
Dr. Fadel Naim highlighted that the tragic overcrowding in hospitals is not merely an issue of lacking equipment but a direct result of “the relentless war on Gaza and the suffocating blockade that has crippled the entire healthcare system.”
With the crisis continuing to worsen, the need for action is becoming more urgent. The Director of Al-Ahli Hospital called on Israeli authorities to intervene. He too has demanded that these complicit governments, including the UK Government, do more to end the siege and stop any more tragic loss of life.
