Medical official: The health system in Gaza is fragmented
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The Ministry of Health in the Gaza Strip warned of the dangerous and rapidly deteriorating health situation in the Strip, stating that it has reached catastrophic levels, threatening the right to life and health of more than two million Palestinians, due to the continued restrictions imposed on the health system and the targeting of its essential components.
The Director General of Hospitals at the Ministry of Health in the Gaza Strip, Muhammad Zaqout, told the Qatar News Agency (QNA) that what the Strip is witnessing is no longer a passing health crisis, but rather a direct result of systematic Israeli policies that have led to the dismantling of the health system and the transformation of the remaining functioning hospitals into forced waiting stations for thousands of patients and wounded individuals facing an uncertain fate.
Zaqout spoke of a “health annihilation,” explaining that its catastrophic effects have made the continuation of healthcare a daily miracle, as well as a major challenge to recovery efforts and the restoration of many specialized services. In a related context, Zaqout revealed that more than 20,000 patients and wounded individuals are waiting to travel outside the Gaza Strip to receive necessary medical treatment. He emphasized that the partial operation of the Rafah border crossing is insufficient to address the scale of the humanitarian crisis, given its limited and restricted operation, which exacerbates the already dire health and humanitarian conditions in the Palestinian territory.
Zaqout explained that the continued implementation of this restrictive mechanism at the Rafah crossing, which limits the number of travelers and slows down medical evacuations, poses a direct threat to the lives of thousands of patients. This contributes to a dangerous deterioration of the humanitarian and health situation in the Gaza Strip and places the international community before its legal and moral responsibilities.
He called for the permanent and regular opening of the Rafah crossing to guarantee the free movement of patients and the wounded without restrictions or delays. This would allow for the urgent and immediate evacuation of critically ill and wounded individuals and increase the number of travelers to meet the accumulated medical needs in the Gaza Strip. Regarding the current medical situation and the crisis of medicines and medical supplies plaguing Gaza’s hospitals, the Director General of Hospitals at the Ministry of Health stated that the zero stocks of medicines and medical supplies have made even the simplest painkillers a luxury unaffordable for those facing death every minute.
He added that 46% of essential medicines, 66% of medical supplies, and 84% of materials for laboratories and blood banks are completely out of stock, and that the continued halt in the entry of laboratory supplies is exacerbating the crisis in the operation of laboratories and blood banks, threatening their complete shutdown.
