Gaza Hospital Raises Alarm Over Acute Shortage of Most Medicines Amid Israel’s Ongoing Blockade
Gaza (Quds News Network)- Suhaib al-Hams, director of the Kuwaiti Hospital in Gaza’s southern city of Rafah, has warned of severe shortages of essential medicines and food supplies for patients, following two months of a crippling Israeli blockade.
“We confirm that the sector suffers from acute shortages in more than 75% of essential medicines, a large part of which constitute life-saving medications, which is directly threatening the lives of the vast majority of patients,” he said in a statement on Saturday.
“The ability to continue providing medical services is at stake, as the available stock of medicines and medical supplies is currently insufficient for more than one week,” al-Hams added.
He warned that most of the medical services will stop if this situation continues without immediate intervention and called on “all concerned parties to move immediately” to reopen the borders for entry of medical and humanitarian aid.
Al-Hams said the crossings must also urgently open “to evacuate patients who are slowly dying every day without treatment”.
Since March 2, Israel has closed Gaza’s main crossings, halting the flow of food, medical aid, and other humanitarian supplies. This blockade has caused a severe and unprecedented decline in living conditions, with human rights organizations accusing Israel of using starvation as a weapon of war against Palestinians.
Israel also resumed its genocide in Gaza on March 18 after violating the ceasefire agreement signed in January, killing over 2,200 Palestinians and wounding more than 5,700—mostly children and women, according the Palestinian Health Ministry.
The United Nations has repeatedly warned of humanitarian catastrophe, with the enclave on the brink of “full-scale famine conditions.”
On Friday, Philippe Lazzarini, head of the UN agency for the Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), said the Israeli siege is collectively punishing children, women, older people and men in Gaza.
