Escalating Crisis as Gaza Medicine Stores Targeted Amidst Growing Health Emergency

The impact of the brutal Israeli war on Gaza Strip was not limited to targeting buildings and facilities, but extended to what remained of the components of the health system, at a time when hospitals face an unprecedented shortage of medicines and medical supplies.

The occupation army’s bombing of medicine stores in Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah city comes as an expression of its fascism and criminality during the war of genocide and its efforts to deepen the tragedy of the health sector, amid continuous warnings of running out of basic items and the worsening health crisis, threatening the ability of hospitals to provide the minimum level of care to the sick and wounded.

Destruction of medicine and medical supplies stores

The Palestinian Ministry of Health condemned Israel’s direct and systematic targeting of medicine and medical consumables stores in Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in the central Gaza Strip, on Saturday, describing what happened as a “complex crime.” The ministry explained that the destructive force of the missiles used led to the complete erasing of two stores out of four at the targeted site, in addition to causing severe damage to the other two stores, causing the loss and damage of vital quantities of medicines and medical supplies designated to serve the sick and wounded. It added that the bombing caused significant damage to the outpatient clinics building adjacent to the stores, and also caused a state of panic among patients, their companions, and medical staff inside the hospital.

The ministry confirmed that Israel is not content with preventing the entry of medicines and medical supplies and depriving thousands of sick and wounded from traveling for treatment, but continues to target what remains of the capabilities of the health system and destroy its limited capacities, demanding the international community and United Nations and human rights institutions to urgently intervene to stop the attacks and provide protection for health institutions and medical crews.

Hospital warns of consequences of losing medical supplies

For his part, the spokesman for Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, Khalil Al-Daqran, said that the Israeli raid destroyed a warehouse for medical supplies that included medicines and solutions designated for kidney and intensive care patients. He explained that the bombing led to the destruction of all contents of the warehouse, and also damaged the hospital wall and adjacent buildings, warning that the destruction of medical supplies threatens the lives of patients in light of the acute shortage of medicines and supplies resulting from the Israeli siege.

Palestinian condemnations considering the targeting a war crime

The head of the Palestinian National Council, Rawhi Fattouh, described the destruction of the medicine and medical supplies warehouse in Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital as a new war crime added to the record of crimes targeting civilians and health infrastructure, in violation of international humanitarian law and the Geneva Conventions.

He stressed that targeting health facilities comes in the context of continuous bombing of homes and residential neighborhoods, as part of the policy of collective punishment and creating a worsening humanitarian disaster. He also called on the US administration and the international community to take immediate action to stop these crimes, protect civilians, and work to lift the siege imposed on Gaza Strip.

Repeated warnings of running out of medicines

The targeting of medicine stores came one day after warnings issued by the Director General of the Ministry of Health in Gaza Strip, Mounir Al-Bursh, regarding the rapid deterioration in health conditions, confirming that the percentage of zero-stock medicines in hospitals and health centers exceeded 53%, amid the continued prevention of the entry of medicines, medical supplies, fuel, and oils necessary to operate electrical generators.

Al-Bursh pointed out that about 28% of widespread diseases in the Strip have become linked to contaminated water, as a result of drinking water mixing with cesspools inside shelter centers, which led to the spread of diseases and epidemics among the displaced, warning that the deterioration of environmental and health conditions increases the risks threatening the lives of the population. On the file of the sick and wounded, he revealed the death of more than 1,500 patients who held official medical referrals while waiting to be allowed to leave the Strip to receive treatment, describing it as a “humanitarian tragedy.”

Health system on the verge of collapse

Medical reports and UN statements follow one another warning of the collapse of the health system in Gaza Strip, in light of 26 hospitals out of 38 going out of service, the deficit in basic medicines exceeding 50%, the shortage of medical consumables reaching 70%, in addition to the deficit in laboratory tests reaching more than 87%. The World Health Organization also estimated the damage to the health sector at about 1.4 billion dollars, pointing to the partial or complete destruction of more than 1,800 health facilities, including hospitals, primary care centers, clinics, pharmacies, and laboratories.

Targeting worsens the treatment crisis

The targeting of medicine stores in Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital comes at a time when the health system in Gaza Strip suffers from an acute shortage of medicines and medical supplies, amid the continuation of the siege and the decline in the ability of hospitals to respond to growing needs. With the continuation of local and UN warnings of the worsening crisis, concern increases over the expanding circle of risks threatening the lives of the sick and wounded, in light of the continued damage to health facilities and the decline of their operational capabilities.