Hospitals around the Gaza Strip have been left totally in the dark with no electricity, fuel or tools, because of consistent Israeli bombing since 7 October.
Many hospitals have now been rendered out of service, with doctors in the Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahia being forced to use the light from their phones to operate and get around, The New Arab’s Arabic language sister site Al-Araby Al-Jadeed reported.
Many of the machines and devices used in hospitals can no longer be used because of the lack of electricity and fuel, the report adds.
“I got to the hospital after suffering from kidney colic and there was no electricity or anything,” one man, named Ayman Zaqout said.
“I don’t know how the treatment will be done. May God help us,” he added.
Doctor Mahmoud Abu Amsha, who works at the hospital, said there was a “complete cessation of patient services due to fuel shortages” and there was a “shortage of oxygen, making the oxygen station completely stop,” he told Al-Araby Al-Jadeed.
“Solar energy is not sufficient…batteries can’t even be charged. There are premature babies and infants, and the children in incubators are at risk of cardiac arrest and death. The intensive care unit for children also has seven cases, and they will die because of the fuel stoppage,” he continued.
Facilities in medical centres have also been devastated, with some struggling to continue running on generators alone, putting around 2.4 million civilians at risk and increasing the likelihood of disease spreading.
Since October, Israel has restricted fuel, aid and water flowing into the Gaza Strip, with continued bombardment also targeting power and water plants.
The Palestinian ministry of health announced that only 16 hospitals are currently functioning or partially functioning, however, the fuel shortages are also affecting ambulances.
“Things are very difficult for us,” Mohammed Salha, the acting hospital director for Al-Awda Hospital said.
“We announced two days ago that we would stop providing some services, including postponing scheduled operations due to the lack of fuel needed to operate the hospital,” he added, saying there is a great danger to patients.
According to Salha, hospitals in Gaza have only been able to function because they are “borrowing” fuel from other hospitals, enabling them to continue providing services at a basic level.
This week, the Palestinian ministry of health issued an appeal to the UN and international organisations to take necessary measures to protect hospitals and medical staff.
Since the start of the war on Gaza, 40,334 Palestinians have been killed and 93,356 have been wounded in the same time frame.
Israeli bombing has plunged the enclave into a deep humanitarian crisis and levelled entire neighbourhoods.
