The Ministry of Health in Gaza issued a warning on Monday of the imminent collapse of the healthcare system amid a severe shortage of essential medicines and medical supplies, stating it is now “gasping its last breaths” in terms of life-saving and urgent needs.
This warning comes amid a deteriorating humanitarian situation where patients and the wounded face a triple threat: hunger, constant bombardment, and denial of treatment.
In its statement, the Ministry said that stock levels of essential medicines and consumables have “exceeded crisis thresholds into catastrophic levels,” adding that medical teams are no longer able to provide health services due to nearly depleted stocks.
It noted that “many patients and wounded are at critical moments where outcomes cannot be predicted,” warning of rising death tolls in hospitals as the health system collapses.
Since May 2024, Israeli occupation forces have seized control of the Palestinian side of the Rafah border crossing, blocking the entry of medical and humanitarian aid and preventing thousands of wounded and sick individuals from travelling abroad for treatment, further worsening the humanitarian disaster, especially amid the destruction of hospitals and health centres and the systematic targeting and detention of medical staff.
The blockade has tightened further since March, coinciding with the resumption of Israeli occupation’s genocidal campaign in Gaza, making access to treatment and medical care virtually impossible. This forms part of a systematic policy to starve the population and deny them their most basic rights to life and health, in flagrant violation of international law.
With U.S. support, the Israeli occupation has continued its genocidal assault on Gaza since 7 October 2023, killing 64,871 civilians and wounding more than 164,610, most of them women and children. Hundreds of thousands of displaced people now live in catastrophic conditions. At least 422 Palestinians, including 145 children, have died of starvation due to the suffocating siege and deliberate deprivation of food and medicine.
What is happening in Gaza constitutes systematic violations of international humanitarian law and the Geneva Conventions, which explicitly prohibit the targeting, starvation, and denial of medical care to civilians, acts that amount to crimes of genocide and crimes against humanity.
Despite the gravity of this humanitarian catastrophe, the international community remains disturbingly silent. Most states have adopted feeble positions that fall far short of meaningful action, effectively giving Israeli occupation cover to continue its crimes against over two million people trapped in Gaza.
