Gaza’s health infrastructure is collapsing under the weight of continuous Israeli air and ground assaults, with doctors warning that the situation has reached a breaking point. At Al-Shifa Hospital, once Gaza’s largest medical facility, services have been reduced to a fraction of their former capacity, overwhelmed by casualties and starved of essential supplies.

Dr Mohammed Abu Salmiya, director of the hospital, stated that Gaza’s health system is operating at less than 15% of its previous capacity. With over 85% of medical infrastructure either destroyed or severely damaged, doctors are forced to make impossible choices. Intensive care beds are nearly full, and the number of patients in critical condition is rising daily. Only 127 ICU beds remain across the Strip, while the need for life-saving interventions has doubled.

Once a lifeline for the two million residents of Gaza, Al-Shifa now symbolises the broader collapse of public services across the enclave. Hospitals in the north can no longer handle the influx of the wounded, and the remaining medical centres are struggling to function amid constant power cuts and limited fuel.

As Gaza endures relentless bombardment, its medical staff work in near-impossible conditions, operating under fire and often without anaesthetics or surgical tools. With every new wave of airstrikes, the number of wounded rises—and the hope of survival for many fades.