In Gaza, doctors are warning of a sharp rise in viral infections spreading among a population already ravaged by hunger and relentless bombardment. With no diagnostic tools or essential medical equipment, healthcare workers can only guess at the nature of these illnesses. Patients arrive at the few remaining clinics with fever, joint pain, diarrhoea, and headaches, but doctors cannot confirm whether these are linked to new viral mutations or other preventable diseases.

The devastation of the health sector has left hospitals without even the most basic supplies, painkillers, medicines, or functioning diagnostic machines. Malnutrition has stripped people of their immunity, making them acutely vulnerable. For medical teams, the inability to test or treat patients has created a cycle of despair, as preventable conditions spread unchecked through crowded shelters and fragile communities.

Doctors on the ground describe a system in freefall. After nearly two years of a genocidal war and suffocating siege, Gaza’s hospitals can no longer withstand the pressure. International warnings of famine and total health collapse continue to mount, but the blockade prevents vital aid from reaching those most in need. As the siege tightens and hunger deepens, the spread of disease becomes yet another weapon in a war that has already stolen countless lives, threatening many more in the weeks to come.