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Gaza Hospitals Director to QNA: 50% Medicine Shortage and Complete Halt of Heart Surgeries Due to Israeli Siege and Aggression

Gaza, April 11 (QNA) - The Palestinian Ministry of Health in the Gaza Strip warned that the health sector has reached a catastrophic level where the most basic health human rights are violated, due to the continued Israeli siege and closure of the Strip, and the prevention of entry of medicines, treatments, and emergency medical supplies.

Dr. Muhammad Zaqout, Director General of Hospitals in the Gaza Strip, said in a special interview with Qatar News Agency (QNA) that what the health sector is experiencing has exceeded the limits of traditional crises, reaching levels where surgical operations are limited to emergency cases only, amid the decline in the operational capacity of hospitals.

He pointed out that patients in Gaza hospitals are denied treatment, while operations are performed under extremely harsh conditions, a scene that embodies the failure of the international system in the face of unprecedented human suffering.

He explained that the shortage rates in the ministry's medicine stocks reached 50%, in medical consumables 57%, and in laboratory testing materials 71%, threatening the health system's ability to respond to increasing needs. He noted that oncology services are among the most affected sectors, with a 61% shortage of specialized medicines, while there are about 4,100 cancer patients in the Strip.

The Director General of Hospitals in Gaza added that primary care, neurology, nephrology, surgery, and intensive care services are experiencing a shortage of over 40% in essential medicines, and open-heart surgeries and cardiac catheterizations have completely stopped due to lack of resources, along with a severe 89% shortage of eye surgery supplies.

Regarding the capacity of hospital beds in the Strip, Zaqout reported that it has decreased by more than 55%, with increasing numbers of patients and wounded. Meanwhile, 22 hospitals and 90 health centers have gone out of service, with severe damage to the infrastructure of operating facilities. He affirmed that radiology services and medical devices suffer from acute shortages.

He pointed out that, given the difficult health situation in the Strip's hospitals and the absence of a mechanism to ensure urgent travel for intensive care and critical patients, who are placed on long waiting lists, more than 21,500 patients and wounded have accumulated on waiting lists for travel for treatment outside the Strip, waiting for regular operations and travel through the Rafah land crossing. Among them are 195 critical cases, while 1,517 patients have died while waiting to travel due to Israeli complications and occupation conditions imposed on the travel of patients and wounded. He stated that the total number of patients evacuated during the past six months does not exceed 420 patients, an average of less than 70 patients per month.

In a related context, the Director General of Gaza Hospitals said that an imminent danger threatens the continued operation of Gaza Strip hospitals, due to the worsening shortage of oils, with a monthly need of 2,500 liters, and spare parts needed to operate electric generators, because the occupation prevents their entry, which may lead to their complete shutdown in the near future.

He indicated that about 90 electric generators belonging to the Ministry of Health and its hospitals have completely gone out of service, while 38 generators operate with limited amounts of oils, along with 11 generators that need urgent maintenance, at a time when hospitals rely mainly on these generators due to power outages.

He warned that the shutdown of generators will directly affect vital departments, especially intensive care units, incubators, and dialysis departments, threatening patients' lives and exacerbating the severity of health conditions in medical facilities.

He explained that power outages in hospitals also lead to the spoilage of sensitive medicines, vaccines, and blood units, as well as the malfunction of precision medical devices due to voltage fluctuations or reliance on unstable power sources.

He said that surgical operations have become limited to emergency cases only in hospitals, amid the decline in their operational capacity, which increases the suffering of patients and delays the provision of necessary medical services.

In concluding his remarks to QNA, the Director General of Hospitals in the Gaza Strip warned that the continuation of ongoing and cumulative crises will exacerbate the humanitarian situation, with the disruption of health services for hundreds of thousands of citizens, calling on international health bodies to intervene quickly to confront the crisis before reaching a complete shutdown.

The health sector in Gaza is witnessing an unprecedented collapse in providing medical and humanitarian services to the population, as the Israeli occupation prevents the entry of medicines, supplies, and medical teams, heralding a humanitarian catastrophe warned by health and international institutions operating in the Strip.

Director of Hospitals

Gaza

Medicine Shortage

Heart Surgery Halt

Siege

Israeli Aggression