The Palestinian enclave is running out of medicines and fuel as patients are dying in overcrowded hospitals
Palestinian children wounded in Israel strikes are brought to Shifa Hospital in Gaza City on Wednesday, Oct. 11, 2023 © AP / Ali Mahmoud
Over 1,500 people, including hundreds of women and children, have been killed and thousands more injured in Gaza since Israel launched its retaliatory campaign against Hamas militants in response to the deadly raid last week, Palestinian health ministry spokesperson Ashraf Al-Qudra said on Thursday.
“The patients and wounded in Gaza’s hospitals are laying on the floor as there are no beds in the ICU units, with patients piling up in front of the operation rooms,” the health official told Al Mayadeen, adding that the Palestinian health sector was on the brink of collapse amid the Israeli siege.
“Medicines are dwindling and have almost run out,” Qudra added. Health officials have introduced rationing to save fuel, directing electricity from generators toward the most essential hospital wards.
Gazans have been cut off from food, water and electricity supplies as Israel declared war on Hamas and imposed a “full siege” of the territory, after Saturday’s surprise assault killed more than 1,300 people in Israel.
As of Thursday night, the death toll in Gaza stood at 1,537 people, including some 500 children, with another 6,612 injured, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry. The health official noted that the casualties will continue to rise, as entire families are being buried under the rubble of their houses, while those rescued risk dying in overcrowded hospitals.
The IDF have dropped more than 6,000 munitions on Gaza since Saturday, leveling entire neighborhoods and driving some 423,378 people or over 20% of the population out of their homes, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
