Current Status of the Health System in Palestine
According to the official statements made by the Palestinian Ministry of Health; In the attacks carried out by Israel on Gaza since October 7, 2023 (October 22, 2023);
4.651 martyrs, including 1.873 children, 1.023 women, and 187 elderly people, in addition to 14.245 injured civilians. There are 1.450 reports of missing people still under the rubble, including 800 children.
Medical teams have observed the use of unconventional weapons by the Israeli occupation, causing severe burns to the bodies of martyrs and injured individuals.
54 healthcare workers have been martyred and 90 others injured due to result of Israel's attacks on the healthcare system, violating the international rules of war.
35 healthcare facilities have been damaged and 23 ambulances destroyed. 10 hospitals and 29 health centers have been forced to shut down due to targeting and fuel shortages.
Every attack on healthcare workers, civilians, and healthcare centers is a crime against humanity and violates international law.
Israel's threats against hospitals where thousands of people take shelter and receive treatment and its attacks on hospitals' vicinity continue. These attacks and threats against humanity are unacceptable.
In Palestine, water, electricity and fuel outages, damage to the health infrastructure, inadequacy of various basic medicines and medical supplies, difficulties in ensuring sanitation and the constant injuries of thousands of people because of repeated attacks exceed the capacity of the health system. For these reasons, people with chronic diseases cannot access treatment.
Dr Mohammed Ghuneim, an Emergency Medicine doctor in Al-Shifa Hospital mention about challenges he and his colleagues were facing. “We have been trained in mass casualty, but no guidelines in the world can prepare us for this. We have received more than 700 casualties at the same time in over 25 minutes.’’
Dr Fadel Naim, Head of the Orthopedic Department in Al-Ahli Arab hospital in Gaza said he “If we leave the hospital, we could be killed anywhere, so we will continue to treat patients till the end of the war.”
We appreciate the extraordinary efforts of the health workers in Palestine and thank them all. We hope that the attacks on the healthcare system and humanity will end as soon as possible, and that patients and the doctors who treat them will be at peace.
Reference: Palestine Ministry of Health, Scroll. ‘We are witnessing tragic stories’: Gaza doctors struggle with scarce supplies, evacuation warnings. October 2023. Available at: https://scroll.in/article/1057915/we-are-witnessing-tragic-stories-gaza-hospitals-struggle-with-scare-supplies-evacuation-warnings