Gaza’s Ministry of Health has issued an urgent warning: medical laboratories and blood banks are nearing total collapse amid Israel’s ongoing siege and bombardment. With critical supplies nearly exhausted and infrastructure devastated, Gaza’s ability to diagnose and treat the wounded is vanishing before the world’s eyes.

Dr. Sahar Ghanem, who leads the Ministry’s Laboratory Department, confirmed that nearly half of all testing materials and consumables are at dangerously low levels. “We have less than a month’s supply,” she said. “This crisis is no longer approaching, it’s here.”

The situation is worsened by Israel’s systematic targeting of medical infrastructure. According to the Ministry, nearly 50% of hospital laboratories have been destroyed. Primary care labs have suffered even more: 60% have been wiped out. Of the 12 government hospital labs that existed before October 2023, only four remain functional, while others were either bombed or forcibly evacuated.

The collapse is already forcing impossible choices. Over 500 patients have been discharged early, not because they recovered, but because hospitals can no longer sustain them. Blood banks are running dry. Basic diagnostic services are no longer available to thousands of injured and chronically ill patients.

“This is not just a medical emergency,” said Dr. Ghanem. “It is the deliberate dismantling of Gaza’s last lifeline.”

The Ministry is now calling on international bodies to intervene immediately and supply emergency laboratory materials and blood units. Without them, Gaza’s shattered health system will no longer be able to function at even the most basic level.

As the blockade tightens and bombardments continue, Gaza’s healthcare system, once a fragile symbol of resilience, is crumbling under the weight of war. What remains is not a health crisis alone, but a humanitarian collapse fuelled by silence and impunity.