In Gaza’s shattered hospitals, the war doesn’t just claim lives through bombs—it starves out the hope of saving others. With blood banks nearly empty and most potential donors weakened by malnutrition, doctors face the harrowing reality that they can no longer perform lifesaving transfusions. “We are out of blood, and out of time,” said Dr Ahmad Al-Farra of Al-Tahrir Hospital.

As Israeli airstrikes continue to strike densely populated areas, the need for blood grows daily. But the siege has blocked not only food and medicine but even blood units from reaching Gaza. In a cruel irony, the very people who rush to donate are often too malnourished to qualify. Medical teams report that anaemia—once rare in young, healthy adults—is now widespread, a direct result of months of starvation.

At blood donation centres, scenes of heartbreak unfold daily. “I wanted to help, to feel useful,” said Noura, a 22-year-old student turned blood donor. “Instead, I was told I was too weak, that I needed help myself. I left in tears.”

Doctors describe a health system in freefall. Surgeries are cancelled, thalassemia patients are left without transfusions, and children are dying within minutes due to the unavailability of blood. “We ration every drop,” said Dr Sofia Zaarab, head of a blood bank in southern Gaza. “But even that’s not enough. Hunger is killing our patients before we can even try.”

The Ministry of Health has sounded the alarm: Gaza needs 8,000 blood units each month to meet basic needs, but the blockade has made this goal unattainable. With 600,000 children facing famine, and the entire population nearing nutritional collapse, health workers say the damage will echo across generations.

While the world debates, Gaza bleeds—slowly, silently, and in plain sight.