The halting of dialysis services at Gaza’s largest hospital due to fuel shortages has been condemned as an act of genocide by Palestinian human rights defender Samir Zaqout. As the health system continues to disintegrate under siege, he warns that the world’s silence is enabling the slow execution of Gaza’s sick.

Zaqout, Deputy Director of Al-Mezan Center for Human Rights, laid blame squarely on the Israeli occupation for what he described as a “deliberate and systematic collapse” of Gaza’s healthcare infrastructure. He urged neighbouring countries and international actors to urgently open humanitarian corridors to allow the flow of fuel and medical supplies.

“This was not unexpected,” he said. “It is the outcome of a suffocating siege that has pushed hospitals to the brink, despite countless warnings from health and rights organisations.”

Zaqout stressed that under the Fourth Geneva Convention, the occupying power has a legal obligation not only to allow aid, but to actively ensure the operation of health services. He also highlighted the legal duty of neighbouring states to intervene and facilitate the passage of life-saving supplies, warning that their silence amounts to complicity in a war crime.

Hundreds of patients now face imminent death, denied access to dialysis and basic treatment. “This is organised starvation,” Zaqout said. “A method of extermination punishable under international law.”

He acknowledged the efforts of the World Health Organization, but noted that the responsibility to end the siege lies with governments, not UN agencies. His final words were stark: “If the world remains passive, it is not only abandoning Gaza, but dismantling the foundations of international law itself.”