In statements made on Thursday morning, Nabal Farsek, the spokesperson for the Palestinian Red Crescent, warned that the healthcare system in Gaza is on the brink of collapse, with 12 out of 35 hospitals now out of service.
She anticipated that the hospitals would run out of fuel within a day at most, rendering them unable to continue providing medical services. The complete power outage in Gaza, she added, places thousands of patients, including the injured, wounded, and infants in incubators, at risk of losing their lives.
Farsek stated, “They will turn into casualties due to the lack of electricity, and no healthcare service can be provided after 24 hours. The fuel available to us at the Red Crescent will be depleted within 24 to 36 hours.”
She also pointed out that ambulance services would be unable to transport the injured and wounded, and the hospitals run by the Red Crescent would become incapacitated without fuel.
She emphasized that the healthcare sector in Gaza was already fragile and weak before the recent Israeli aggression. She said, “With the continuous Israeli aggression for 20 days, and in the face of shortages of everything, including food and medicine, the situation is deteriorating.”
While 62 aid trucks carrying water, food, and medical supplies have arrived, she noted that “the quantity delivered is not sufficient to support the remaining hospitals.”
In a preliminary statistic, the Palestinian Ministry of Health announced that the death toll from the ongoing Israeli occupation’s aggression on Gaza has risen to over 6,500 martyrs and more than 17,000 wounded since the beginning of this month.
Gaza has been under a suffocating blockade since 2007, but the Israeli occupation government has intensified the blockade on the Strip since the start of the aggression twenty days ago. This has included cutting off electricity and water supplies, as well as preventing the entry of essential goods and fuel.
