Gaza’s healthcare system, devastated by over two years of Israeli war, now requires $10 billion in investments over a period of five years, the World Health Organization said on Friday.
Reinhilde Van de Weerdt, WHO Representative for the occupied Palestinian territory, detailed the level of destruction in Gaza in a press briefing.
Van de Weerdt said the damages to the healthcare sector alone amount to an estimated $1.4 billion.
The Palestinian Wafa news agency reported that over 1,800 health facilities have been partially or fully destroyed in the onslaught. The figure includes labs, pharmacies, clinics and local healthcare centres.
In its war on Gaza, which has been determined to be a genocide by leading rights groups, Israel bombed several hospitals and detained doctors and medical staff.
The war has had a catastrophic impact on the medical field, with restrictions on emergency aid and supplies meaning that there has been a significant shortage in medicine and medical equipment since 2023.
More than half of essential medicines are now unavailable in the Gaza, while roughly 70 per cent of medical supplies have been depleted, severely limiting hospitals' ability to provide even basic care.
The bombing of infrastructure such as sewage sites has also caused disease to spread rapidly in the enclave, while treatment remains limited as many healthcare facilities are operating with limited capacity.
"80 percent of 1,600 displacement sites had frequent, visible, rodent and pest presence; over 80% of these displacement sites reported skin infections, such as rabies, lice, and bed bugs," Van de Weerdt said.
Despite efforts to improve conditions amid the ceasefire, the representative said there remains an urgent need to protect healthcare workers in the enclave and ensure unhindered access for medical supplies into the enclave.
Van de Weerdt added that patients in desperate need of medical assistance are struggling to get treatment outside of Gaza due to a complicated process and the permissions needed from Israeli authorities.
"Patients could leave Gaza to go to hospitals in East Jerusalem or in the West Bank: to do so, they would leave via the Rafah border crossing, going into Egypt and from there to other countries, now recently also back to Jordan," she explained.
"The last medical evacuation took place on 23 April, through Rafah, for 47 patients and 86 companions," she added.
There are around 4,500 cancer patients in Gaza who are currently at risk due to the near-total absence of chemotherapy drugs. The Ministry of Health reported that at least six patients are dying every day as a result of delayed access to treatment, whether due to restrictions on supplies or the denial of travel permits.