Western nations call for Gaza-West Bank medical corridor to reopen

Plea to help evacuate Gaza patients for treatment comes amid fears lack of fuel will force hospitals to shut down

An ambulance drives past destroyed buildings to pick up injured Palestinians in Jabalia, northern Gaza. AFP

Two dozen western nations have called for the reopening of a medical corridor to allow patients from Gaza to be treated in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, offering to provide financial aid, medical staff and equipment.

The joint appeal issued on Monday comes as the enclave's medical centres, already battered by nearly two years of war, are struggling to cope with mounting casualties as the Israeli military intensifies attacks on Gaza city.

“We strongly appeal to Israel to restore the medical corridor to the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, so medical evacuations from Gaza can be resumed and patients can get the treatment that they so urgently need on Palestinian territory,” the countries said in a joint statement.

“We furthermore urge Israel to lift restrictions on deliveries of medicine and medical equipment to Gaza."

The other signatories were from Europe, including Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, Norway and Poland.

There was no immediate reaction from Israel, which has previously rejected the idea, citing “security concerns”. Israel controls all the exit points from Gaza and has allowed some residents to be evacuated to Arab and European countries for medical treatment, but their number is a fraction of the seriously ill or injured in the territory.

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Gaza's Health Ministry warned on Tuesday that the enclave’s entire health system could shut down within days because of a lack of fuel.

“The health system in Gaza is breathing its last … and all attempts to save what remains may fail under the weight of the systematic destruction of hospitals and health services,” the territory's Ministry of Health said on Tuesday.

“The fuel crisis in the remaining operational hospitals has entered an extremely dangerous stage. Vital departments could stop within days, exposing patients and the wounded to certain death.”

Mounir Al Bursh, the ministry's director general, said three major hospitals – Al Oyoun, Hamad and Al Rantisi – were already out of service. “We are only 48 hours away from a complete shutdown of hospitals,” he said.

“Preventing the entry of fuel into the strip will cause a major catastrophe."

Israel had targeted 38 hospitals since the beginning of the war, with 1,723 medical workers killed so far, according to ministry figures.

The Palestinian Medical Relief Society, an NGO, said on Tuesday that Israel destroyed its main centre in Gaza city after ordering it to be evacuated. The six-storey building in the Tel Al Hawa neighbourhod, which provided blood donation and testing services, trauma care, cancer medicine and treatment of chronic diseases, was reduced to rubble by an air strike, it said.

Along with attacks on buildings and staff, Gaza's hospitals have struggled with shortages of fuel and medical supplies because of Israeli restrictions on the entry of aid. Only a fraction of the aid needed, including medicine, has reached the territory since Israel lifted a blockade in May, humanitarian agencies said in late August.

Palestinians inspect damage at an UNRWA-run school at Al Shati refugee camp in Gaza city. Reuters

The UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, said on Monday that two health centres were among 12 of its premises in Gaza city that suffered “either direct or indirect strikes” between September 11 and 16.

World Health Organisation chief Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned last week that hospitals, “already overwhelmed, are on the brink of collapse as escalating violence blocks access and prevents WHO from delivering life-saving supplies”.

Mr Al Bursh added: “The catastrophe cannot be overstated. Without fuel, without protection for our health workers, without immediate intervention, Gaza’s medical system will collapse completely and with it countless more lives.

Tanks near Al Shifa

Gaza city residents reported increasing air strikes and shelling over the past two days, with Israeli tanks reaching Al Nasser Street, less than a kilometre from Al Shifa Hospital, Gaza's largest medical complex. Several civilians in the area were hit by sniper fire.

The Health Ministry said on Tuesday that Gaza hospitals received 38 bodies and 190 wounded people over the previous 24 hours, raising the overall toll since the war began 65,382 killed and 166,985 injured.

Israel launched its military offensive in Gaza after Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel and killed about 1,200 people on October 7, 2023.

The Israeli government said the assault on Gaza city was necessary to achieve its goal of eliminating Hamas and recovering about 50 hostages still held by the militants out of about 250 seized during the 2023 attack.

The assault has forced hundreds of thousands of the city's estimated one million population to flee south, where the Israeli military claims to have created a humanitarian zone where tents, food, water and medical services will be available. Others, like Momen Fazys, a journalist, have chosen to stay in the city, despite the situation being "very difficult".

“I didn’t leave Gaza before and I don’t want to leave it now,” he told The National. “If we abandon Gaza and it becomes emptied, we will never come to it again. No one will return to it and it will be lost on top of what has already been lost."

He said those who refused to leave during previous attacks were the ones responsible for the return of those who had fled. “They foiled the displacement project the first time and with God’s will they will foil it again.”

Others want to leave but struggle to find transport. “My husband tried with several drivers who promised to come but in the end asked us to pay more, which we couldn’t afford,” Wijdan Hassouna, a 42-year-old mother of six, told The National.

“Finally, we found a small car and he asked for 3,000 shekels [$897]. I accepted immediately because last night was terrible, the shelling and sound of bombing made you feel the morning would never come.”

With limited space in the vehicle, she was forced to leave most of her belongings behind. “Even so, I don’t know where to go. I will stay with my brother in his tent until I can manage a place for us.”