SAFA – Eight fully equipped mobile medical clinics intended to provide lifesaving healthcare to Palestinians in Gaza remain blocked from entering the besieged territory by Israeli authorities, despite urgent shortages of maternal care, dialysis services, and essential medical treatment.

According to a report by the British newspaper The Independent, the clinics, worth approximately £650,000 ($850,000), have faced delays of up to two years, leaving desperately needed medical facilities unused while Gaza's healthcare system struggles to meet basic needs.

The eight units include six maternal healthcare clinics, one mobile dialysis clinic, and one general medical clinic.

Medics Worldwide, a Turkey-based humanitarian organization involved in the project, said it had coordinated with Egyptian authorities, the Egyptian Red Crescent, and the World Health Organization to arrange the clinics' delivery and transfer to Gaza's Health Ministry.

The organization reported encountering no objections from Egypt, but said Israel's Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) refused permission for the clinics to enter Gaza.

Pregnant Women Denied Essential Medical Care

The six maternal healthcare units are designed to provide prenatal and postnatal care, support safer deliveries, respond to pregnancy-related emergencies, and examine newborn babies.

Each maternal clinic cost approximately £75,000, while the dialysis unit cost £150,000 and the general medical clinic £65,000, according to the report.

Gilo Wahid, executive director of Palestine Aid UK, stressed that the clinics are ready to provide immediate medical assistance.

"These are mothers we are trying to save," she said, urging authorities to allow the facilities into Gaza.

Wahid questioned Israel's justification for restricting the units as potentially dual-use equipment, emphasizing that the clinics had been built to meet strict technical specifications.

The restrictions come as Gaza's maternal healthcare system faces a deepening emergency.

Citing United Nations data, The Independent reported that severe maternal health complications reached 82 cases per 1,000 births during the first half of 2026, while nearly 4,000 miscarriages were recorded over the same period.

According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), more than 57% of pregnant women in Gaza suffer from anemia, further increasing the risks associated with pregnancy and childbirth.

Save the Children UK estimates that approximately 130 babies are born in Gaza every day, many amid severe shortages of functioning medical facilities, essential supplies, and specialized care.

Humanitarian Groups Demand Access

Irish truck driver John Herson, who helped raise funds for three of the clinics, plans to travel to Cairo on November 22 to meet officials and explore ways to secure their entry into Gaza.

Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin also raised the delays in Parliament in September, according to The Independent.

Meanwhile, humanitarian organizations involved in the initiative have suspended fundraising for additional clinics because they cannot guarantee that the units already prepared will reach the Palestinians who need them.

The organizations warn that the mobile clinics could help restore critical services in communities where damaged infrastructure, displacement, and limited access to functioning hospitals have left patients without reliable healthcare.

Under international humanitarian law, civilians must have access to essential medical care, and parties to a conflict are required to facilitate humanitarian relief in accordance with their legal obligations.

For Gaza's pregnant women, newborns, and patients requiring dialysis, the continued obstruction of these clinics means potentially lifesaving treatment remains out of reach at a time when every delay can carry devastating consequences.