Gaza: Escalating Health Collapse Amid Ongoing Israeli Attacks
Since dawn on Monday, 31 Palestinians have been killed, including 24 in Gaza City, amid mounting local and international warnings of an unprecedented humanitarian collapse in the besieged strip.
The Ministry of Health in Gaza released new figures, announcing that the death toll has risen to 66,055 martyrs and 168,346 wounded since October 7, 2023.
At Nasser Medical Complex, officials reported that four Palestinians waiting for aid were killed by Israeli fire near distribution points north of Rafah. The hospital also confirmed that a nurse was injured by Israeli gunfire inside its premises, describing the attack as a “clear assassination attempt” against medical staff.
A Collapsing Health System
The head of emergency and ambulance services in Gaza and the north told Al Jazeera that ambulance operations have been restricted to limited areas due to Israeli forces. He stressed that 80% of ambulances are now out of service, and most hospitals in northern Gaza and Gaza City are completely non-operational, leaving health conditions in a dire state.
The director of the UN office in the Palestinian territories described the situation as “catastrophic,” noting that conditions are extremely difficult both for civilians and for international humanitarian workers amid ongoing Israeli violations.
Doctors Without Borders (MSF) announced it had suspended lifesaving medical activities in Gaza City due to the intensity of Israeli attacks, warning that hundreds of patients—including children and newborns—are at severe risk. The organization urged an immediate halt to the violence and safe access for humanitarian aid.
Blood Banks on the Verge of Shutdown
The Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza warned on Monday of an imminent total shutdown of blood banks in the few remaining functional hospitals due to a severe shortage of laboratory supplies needed to process and test blood units.
It explained that these shortages are compounded by a dangerously low reserve of blood units, which hampers lifesaving interventions for the wounded. Community blood donation campaigns have largely ceased as famine prevents Palestinians—who had been the last source of donations—from giving blood.
In addition to the severe shortage of blood, Gaza’s healthcare system faces a critical lack of medicines and medical supplies, largely due to Israel’s near-total closure of border crossings since March, blocking humanitarian and medical aid.
Demolition Warnings Around Al-Shifa
Meanwhile, the Israeli army on Monday issued evacuation warnings for several residential buildings near Al-Shifa Medical Complex, which is sheltering tens of thousands of displaced Palestinians in western Gaza City.
Eyewitnesses reported that the army warned residents of four multi-story buildings on Abu Hasira Street to evacuate immediately before bombardment. Panic spread among hundreds of residents, who fled in haste without taking basic belongings.
The area around Abu Hasira Street has been subjected to intense Israeli airstrikes in recent days, destroying residential buildings housing thousands of people.
“Chariots of Gideon 2” Operation
On August 8, Israel’s security cabinet approved a plan to occupy Gaza City, and on August 11, the army launched a wide-scale offensive named “Chariots of Gideon 2.” The operation has included the demolition of homes with booby-trapped robots, artillery shelling, indiscriminate gunfire, forced displacement, and a ground invasion.
Despite the ongoing offensive, nearly 900,000 Palestinians have refused to evacuate Gaza City and move south, according to a statement by the Government Media Office last Friday, despite the grave risks.
Famine and Genocide
Since October 7, 2023, Israel—with U.S. backing—has been accused of carrying out a genocide in Gaza that has killed over 66,000 Palestinians and wounded more than 168,000, the majority of them women and children.
Alongside the destruction, famine has claimed the lives of 442 Palestinians, including 147 children, as humanitarian conditions deteriorate amid the ongoing blockade and the absence of political solutions.
