Gaza’s healthcare system is teetering on the brink of collapse, with warnings from the Ministry of Health that the situation has reached a critical point. Dr Munir Al-Barsh, Director General of the ministry, described a humanitarian disaster unfolding in real time, as hospitals run out of even the most basic medical supplies.

“We are witnessing the slow death of our healthcare sector,” he said. “Without urgent international action, lives will be lost — not in days or weeks, but in hours.”

Al-Barsh revealed that 80% of patients are unable to access essential medicines. Many are living in constant pain, their conditions worsening daily due to the lack of treatment. The crisis is compounded by devastating injuries caused by Israeli bombardments. Since the war began, more than 4,500 people have undergone amputations — among them 800 children and 540 women — injuries made worse by the absence of adequate medical care.

Hospitals are also facing an energy emergency. Fuel reserves for generators, which power life-saving equipment, are expected to run dry within ten days. “Patients in intensive care will not survive. They rely entirely on machines to stay alive,” Al-Barsh warned.

The latest escalation began after Israel resumed its military campaign on 18 March, violating a ceasefire agreement that had come into effect in January. For the ninth consecutive day, Gaza has come under relentless assault — described by Palestinian sources as “bloody massacres”.

In the past 24 hours alone, Israeli attacks have killed 39 Palestinians and injured 124 others across multiple areas of the Strip, according to the Ministry of Health. Since 18 March, 830 people have been killed and 1,787 wounded.

The overall death toll since 7 October 2023 now stands at 50,183, with more than 113,800 injured. The Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor reports that, since mid-March, Israel has been killing over 100 Palestinians and injuring more than 220 every single day, through airstrikes, artillery fire, and ground invasions.

Meanwhile, over 200,000 Palestinians have been forcibly displaced within a single week — many of them families torn from their homes once again, now seeking shelter in tents and makeshift shelters amid worsening humanitarian conditions.

This is not just a health crisis. It is the collapse of an entire system, under siege.