Gaza hospitals in critical condition

Medical centers in the Gaza Strip are facing a severe shortage of medicine caused by Israel’s years-long blockade on the coastal enclave.

Hamas Health Minister Dr Bassem Naem said 180 medicines and 200 medical items, including basics like alcohol and needle, have run out in Gaza.

Naem warned that the current situation is even worse than the one caused by Israel’s 22-day war on Gaza at the turn of 2008. The all-out military offensive killed over 1400 Palestinians, most of them women and children.

He declared that his ministry “has been subjected to continuous humanitarian crises for several years … unlike previous medical crises, which affected a specific number of patients, these present crises will affect basic health service delivery for all patients,” Al-Jazeera reported.

Al Mezan Center for Human Rights has pointed out that the medication scarcity in the Gaza Strip accounts for 50% of the total medicine on the inventory of the Palestinian Ministry of Health in the territory.

The Palestinian authorities have declared a state of emergency in the strip, with hospitals cancelling many surgeries due to lack of medical supplies. They describe the medical crisis within the besieged territory as acute and almost catastrophic for patients who are in desperate need of treatment or medication.

Many humanitarian groups believe that the blockade of the coastal area is a “collective punishment,” denying the people of Gaza their very fundamental needs, including access to food, drinking water, medicine, electricity and fuel.