GAZA, (PIC)
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) warned that Gaza’s healthcare system continues to operate under catastrophic pressure amid severe shortages of medical supplies, fuel, and maintenance materials, calling for the urgent entry of essential resources to prevent the collapse of medical equipment and health services.
In a statement issued Thursday evening, the Office said Gaza’s health sector has faced unprecedented conditions since the start of the Israeli war on the Strip in October 2023, with dozens of hospitals and medical centers forced out of service due to direct bombardment and the depletion of fuel and medical supplies.
OCHA noted that the World Health Organization has recorded 22 attacks on healthcare facilities in recent weeks, resulting in casualties and disrupting ambulance services, medical transport, and hospital operations, while the remaining functioning hospitals continue receiving large numbers of wounded and sick patients amid critical shortages of beds and medicine.
In a related context, the UN Office said Gaza’s water crisis continues to worsen, with three out of every four families now relying on trucked water after widespread destruction of water and sewage infrastructure caused by ongoing Israeli bombardment.
It added that humanitarian partners are currently distributing around 24,000 cubic meters of water daily through nearly 2,000 distribution points. However, these operations are increasingly at risk because they depend on generators and machinery vulnerable to breakdowns amid severe shortages of spare parts and maintenance supplies.
The warnings come as Gaza’s population faces rapidly deteriorating humanitarian conditions, with mass displacement expanding and diseases spreading due to overcrowding and the collapse of basic services, particularly in shelters and southern areas of the Strip.
Meanwhile, the World Health Organization said that more than one-third of Gaza patients’ requests for permits to receive treatment in occupied Jerusalem or inside Israel were either rejected or delayed during the first four months of this year, noting that current approval rates are the lowest seen in years.
The organization explained that before the war, approval rates exceeded two-thirds of all applications but have sharply declined since the escalation of the war in October 2023, worsening the suffering of thousands of patients, especially those with cancer, heart disease, and critical conditions requiring treatment unavailable inside Gaza.