Agencies-Gaza post
Gaza health warns of stopping health services within 72 hours
The Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza on Saturday announced the start of the countdown to stopping health services within 72 hours, with the ongoing Israeli bombing of the Strip and the complete halt of the power plant.
Palestinian Ministry of Health said in a press release that “on the developments of the health situation with the escalation of the ongoing Israeli aggression on the cities and governorates of the Gaza Strip”.
For the second day in a row, the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip remain, targeting overcrowded residential areas and neighbourhoods, where the number of killed people has so far reached 13, including a 5-year-old girl and a 23-year-old woman, and 114 civilians were wounded with various injuries.
Due to this escalation of the Israeli aggression The Ministry of Health stated the following:
• The Ministry of Health, from the first moment of the start of the brutal Israeli aggression, announced raising the readiness in all hospitals, especially emergency departments, operations, intensive care and ambulance stations.
• The Israeli occupation focuses its aggression on targeting residential areas, which increased the number of victims of children, women and civilians, and critical injuries.
• Medical staff in hospitals are working according to the available and limited capabilities due to the Israeli siege that has been going on for 15 years.
• The pharmaceutical situation in the Ministry of Health is going through its worst situation in years, as the percentage of shortages in essential medicines has reached 40%, and 32% of medical consumables, and 60% of laboratory and blood bank supplies.
• The ongoing closure of the Beit Hanoun checkpoint in front of the movement of patients referred for treatment abroad and the failure to enter life-saving cases exacerbates their difficult health situation, especially patients with tumors and heart, who face an unknown fate.
• The Israeli occupation still prevents the entry of 24 diagnostic x-ray machines, in addition to preventing the entry of spare parts needed to maintain other broken equipment, which are important in providing emergency interventions to the wounded in emergency departments, operations and intensive care.
• With the announcement of the suspension of the power plant in the Gaza Strip, the Ministry of Health announces the start of the countdown to the suspension of health services within 72 hours, and that the coming hours are critical and difficult.
• The power outage poses a serious threat to the work of vital departments in hospitals, especially emergency departments, intensive care, operations, dialysis departments, laboratories, nurseries, laundries, oxygen systems and medical gases.
• The power outage will lead to the suspension of desalination plants, sewage pumps and the supply of water to homes, which may cause a severe health and humanitarian disaster.
• The Ministry of Health, through the Central Emergency Committee and sub-committees in the regions, is in continuous session to follow up on work developments in hospitals and health facilities to enhance medical care for the wounded according to the available and limited possibilities
