Fuel Shortage To Render Remaining Gazan Hospitals Non-Operational In Two Days: Gaza's Health Ministry Director General

Gaza: Director General of the Ministry of Health in Gaza, Dr. Muneer Alboursh warned of an imminent catastrophe in the Gaza Strip's hospitals, as the remaining few are at risk of shutting down completely due to direct Israeli targeting and their being in areas subject to forced evacuation by the Israeli occupation forces in northern and southern Gaza.

The Director General of the Ministry of Health in Gaza stated that the remaining functioning hospitals in the Strip will completely cease operations within two days if they do not receive their designated fuel. He also announced a state of emergency in hospitals due to this dire situation.

Dr. Alboursh told Qatari News Agency (QNA) on Sunday that the fuel available in Gaza's hospitals is only sufficient for two more days and called for the Israeli occupation to be pressured to open border crossings to allow the entry of medical supplies and fuel to save Gaza's hospitals and patients from certain death, stressing that Gaza's hospitals will become mass graves within 48 hours if fuel runs out.

He emphasized that preventing the entry of fuel amounts to cutting hospitals' lifeline, especially after Israeli forces had destroyed generators and oxygen stations.

The Director General of the Ministry of Health in Gaza said that the occupation is preventing international organizations and United Nations bodies from accessing fuel storage locations designated for hospitals, claiming these areas are red zones. He warned that blocking fuel supplies threatens to halt hospital operations, particularly since these hospitals rely entirely on generators to power critical departments.

Dr. Alboursh noted that escalating Israeli threats targeting residential areas near hospitals are part of a systematic plan by the occupation to dismantle the healthcare system in Gaza.

He said that Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis is now the only hospital still operating in the city, after the European Hospital in the east ceased functioning and access to Al Amal Hospital became extremely difficult due to its location in evacuation zones.

The Director General of the Ministry of Health in Gaza added that if Nasser Medical Complex, which serves around 650,000 people in Khan Younis goes out of service, a major humanitarian disaster will take place, warning of a complete collapse of medical care in the southern Gaza Strip.

He explained that medical teams at Nasser are continuing their work despite not having food to eat, just like the rest of the starving population, and that yesterday they had to perform surgeries without electricity or basic medical supplies, in an indescribably tragic situation.

Dr. Alboursh said that Al Amal Hospital, operated by the Palestinian Red Crescent Society in Khan Younis, has become unreachable after the occupation declared the surrounding area a dangerous combat zone and forced residents to evacuate, adding that the hospital still houses patients and medical staff, who now face serious risks amid the siege and highly complex security conditions.

He reported a severe shortage of medicines and medical supplies in all hospitals, with staff lacking essential tools even for basic procedures such as eye surgeries.

The Director General of the Ministry of Health in Gaza said that the dialysis unit at Al Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in central Gaza has shut down due to Israeli attacks, noting that direct shelling damaged the unit's property and equipment, leading to a temporary halt in its life-saving services for kidney failure patients.

Dr. Alboursh said that Israeli shelling caused the failure of the main dialysis filtration machine and that ten sterile water tanks essential for dialysis machines were directly targeted, with seven tanks completely destroyed while three others are still undergoing repairs.

He said that this has had a direct and severe impact on hundreds of kidney failure patients who rely on regular dialysis sessions, increasing their daily suffering and putting their lives at great risk.

He noted that Ministry specialists will continue emergency repairs in the coming days to restore the unit's operations and save patients' lives.

The Director General of the Ministry of Health in Gaza renewed his urgent appeal to international and humanitarian organizations for immediate intervention to protect healthcare institutions and ensure the delivery of medical supplies necessary to continue providing emergency care to the sick and wounded.

He called on all relevant parties to urgently act to protect hospitals and health facilities, ensure the opening of a safe corridor for patients to reach hospitals, and supply them with essential medical resources.

Gaza's healthcare sector is experiencing a severe crisis, with ongoing bans on the entry of medicines and supplies, continued targeting of medical staff through killings or arrests, and systematic destruction of major hospitals, amid the escalating Israeli aggression on the besieged Strip.

Since May 13, the Israeli occupation has launched at least 36 direct attacks on the Strip's 36 hospitals, causing many of them to go out of service, including four major hospitals.

MENAFN08062025000063011010ID1109649344