A senior Palestinian official has described as “extremely catastrophic” the health situation in the Gaza Strip in general, stressing the need for providing the necessary health components.
Munir al-Bursh, director-general of Gaza’s Health Ministry made the remarks on Sunday, as a four-day humanitarian truce appears to be holding in the besieged enclave.
“The quantities of medical aid and fuel that arrived in the Gaza Strip, especially the northern areas of the strip, are very limited and insufficient, in light of the catastrophic health condition of the hospitals,” Bursh said.
“Medicines and medical supplies must be brought into Gaza in large quantities, in line with the catastrophic health situation in the strip,” he added.
The Palestinian official further noted that only three hospitals are now operating in Gaza, namely Al-Maamadani, Al-Awda, and Kamal Adwan, which are serving some 900,000 people, warning that they are on the brink of collapse.
He also emphasized “the need to strengthen the health system in Gaza and the northern regions and provide adequate health services.”
Israel launched the war on Gaza on October 7 after the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas waged the surprise Operation Al-Aqsa Storm against the occupying entity in response to the Israeli regime’s decades-long campaign of bloodletting and devastation against Palestinians.
Tel Aviv has also imposed a “complete siege” on Gaza, cutting off fuel, electricity, food, and water to the more than two million Palestinians living there.
Last Thursday, the Government Media Office in Gaza said that 26 hospitals and 55 health centers were out of service in the blockaded territory. Israeli forces also targeted 55 ambulances, while dozens of others are out of service due to fuel shortages.
A four-day truce took effect on Friday to allow the delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza after seven weeks of unrelenting bombardment.
According to the Gaza-based health ministry, so far nearly 15,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli strikes, most of them women and children.
