Gaza’s Ministry of Health has sounded the alarm over a steep rise in meningitis infections, as the territory’s shattered healthcare system teeters on the edge of collapse. Since the beginning of the crisis, at least 337 cases have been confirmed, the majority of them viral. This unfolding health emergency is taking root in a population already ravaged by war, blockade, and forced displacement.

Dr. Munir Al-Bursh, Director-General of the Ministry, warned that the deteriorating conditions in Gaza are accelerating the spread of disease. With over 1.5 million people crammed into overcrowded and unsanitary shelters, the absence of clean water and hygiene supplies has created the perfect storm for infections to thrive. What should be preventable illnesses are now turning into life-threatening epidemics.

Hospitals are unequipped to respond. Most lack even basic antibiotics, while others can no longer carry out laboratory tests or isolate contagious patients. Medical staff are overwhelmed, working in makeshift clinics with dwindling resources, often forced to watch patients die from treatable conditions.

Dr. Al-Bursh appealed urgently to international agencies to deliver clean water and essential medical aid. Without swift and decisive action, he warned, Gaza could soon face a full-scale public health catastrophe, one that will not only devastate lives but scar generations to come.