Gaza's hospitals 'gasping for breath' with doctors killed and patients lying on floors

WHO chief warns of final collapse of medical care as Israeli offensive worsens already dire situation

The interior of the heavily damaged European Hospital in Khan Younis after an Israeli army attack in May. Getty Images

Israel's latest offensive in Gaza has added to the burden on the remaining hospitals, where the deaths of doctors and the shortages of equipment and beds are pushing the situation once more to the brink.

That was the warning from the head of the World Health Organisation this week, who said Israel's attack on Gaza city and orders for people to leave are pushing them into an “ever-shrinking area unfit for human dignity”.

“Hospitals, already overwhelmed, are on the brink of collapse as escalating violence blocks access and prevents WHO from delivering life-saving supplies,” Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said.

Israel’s intensifying ground offensive has left medical staff scrambling to treat hundreds of wounded people every day. Mohammed Abu Salmiya, the director general of Al Shifa Hospital, said Gaza city's largest medical facility no longer had the capacity to handle severe cases.

“With every advance by [Israel] into the heart of Gaza city, the number of victims increases, and the health system is gasping for breath,” Dr Abu Salmiya told The National.

On Saturday, he was working in the hospital's emergency department when two victims killed in a strike were delivered to the ward: his brother and his sister-in-law.

"I was shocked and devastated to see the bodies of my brother and his wife," Dr Abu Salmiya said.

"Anything is possible now, as you receive your dearest ones as martyrs or wounded. The occupation's crimes continue, and the number of martyrs keeps rising."

The civil defence agency reported that at least 20 people had been killed in strikes on the city on Saturday.

Dr Abu Salmiya said the situation at the hospital was “catastrophic”.

“We are dealing with more than 100 injuries every day, and for most of them we are unable to provide medical services due to a lack of capacity and resources,” he said.

Israeli troops have this week stepped up their campaign to capture Gaza city. AFP

Some of his staff have been killed, others injured or arrested. Many fled south to protect their families as the Israeli military pushes deeper into Gaza city. Those who remain face relentless bombardment, including daily strikes near the hospital that make it nearly impossible to work safely.

Fuel shortages, he added, threaten to shut down the central oxygen station and halt ambulance operations. “If that happens,” he warned, “we will face a grave health and humanitarian catastrophe.”

Munir Al Bursh, director general of Gaza’s Health Ministry, echoed that warning. He said the main hospitals still functioning – Al Shifa, Al Ahli, and a handful of clinics – are operating beyond breaking point.

“There is no space left, not even for a single patient,” Dr Al Bursh told The National. “Dozens of patients and wounded are lying on the floors.”

With hospital capacity limited to fewer than 500 beds, doctors are inundated daily by hundreds of new injuries from round-the-clock air strikes and shelling. Many cases go untreated due to a lack of staff, equipment, or basic medical supplies, blocked by Israel’s closure of crossings into Gaza.

Israel is intensifying its attacks on the areas around the remaining hospitals, Dr Al Bursh said, disrupting the health system even more.

Gaza city residents have been ordered to head south as the Israeli army destroys buildings. AFP

For families, the crisis is personal and devastating. Mohammed Abu Shanab, 47, was displaced from Gaza’s Shujaiya neighbourhood to Al Rimal. His 21-year-old son, Yahya, was gravely wounded in a bombing near the Al Samer area in mid-September.

“He stayed in the emergency reception area for about an hour before doctors could examine him, because of the overwhelming number of injured,” Mr Abu Shanab said. When surgeons finally took Yahya in, after a 10-hour wait, they operated under dire conditions, with electricity cutting off repeatedly.

Mr Abu Shanab had hoped to move his son south for follow-up care, but there was no transport. “I’m forced to stay here and watch my son suffer in front of me due to the lack of painkillers, antibiotics, and bandages,” he said.

After only two days, Yahya was discharged, far earlier than doctors recommended, because there were no beds left. “He needed at least a week,” his father said. “But there was no space for him, no place for the wounded.”

The health system has collapsed under the weight of war. Doctors are exhausted and undersupplied. Patients are crammed on to floors or sent home too soon. Ambulances and oxygen stations may soon stop working.

“Conditions are extremely difficult for people,” Mr Abu Shanab said. “There are no medical services because of the occupation, its bombardment, and its closure of the crossings.”

The WHO has warned that unless immediate steps are taken to ensure the safe delivery of fuel, medical supplies and humanitarian access, Gaza’s hospitals will not only fail the wounded of today, they will cease to exist for the survivors of tomorrow.

With reporting from AFP.