Gaza faces severe drug, medical supply shortages—Health Ministry
The ministry highlighted the crisis during a press conference at Al-Shifa Hospital in western Gaza City, noting that the health system is experiencing “an unprecedented and dangerous state of exhaustion” after two years of war and a strict blockade, which have drastically reduced its capacity to provide diagnostic and therapeutic care.
According to the ministry, stocks of 321 essential medicines have been depleted entirely in warehouses. Shortages affecting emergency and intensive care services stand at 38%, potentially depriving approximately 200,000 patients of emergency treatment, 100,000 patients of surgical care, and 700 patients of intensive care.
Kidney care supplies are critically low, leaving 650 dialysis patients without treatment, who require roughly 7,823 sessions each month. Oncology medications are also at a 70% shortage, leaving around 1,000 cancer patients without care and contributing to preventable deaths.
Primary health care medicines are 62% unavailable, leaving over 288,000 patients with insufficient access to treatment. The ministry warned that gaps in essential diagnostics and therapies increase the risk of serious health setbacks, including strokes and heart attacks.
Cardiac catheterization and open-heart surgeries have come to a complete halt due to a 100% shortage of required supplies, with any limited services reserved for life-saving cases only.
Orthopedic surgeries have largely been suspended, with 99% of scheduled procedures delayed because of missing bone fixation devices and other critical materials. Specialized eye surgeries are also at risk, with essential medicines and consumables nearly depleted, and basic drugs for eye examinations, such as pupil-dilating drops, unavailable.
Laboratory services are similarly strained, with 59% of essential tests unavailable, including critical diagnostics for blood imaging, electrolyte analysis, bacterial cultures, kidney failure, and other life-saving procedures.
The ministry said Israel’s ongoing restrictions on medical aid deliveries exacerbate the shortages, allowing less than 30% of Gaza’s monthly medical truck needs to enter. Supplies that do arrive often do not match the types or priorities required. The ministry urged international organizations to act immediately to ensure regular entry of medicines and supplies and to pressure Israel to allow full humanitarian access, warning that delays could push Gaza’s health system toward total collapse.
Reports state that Israel has targeted Gaza’s health system during the two-year conflict, striking hospitals, medical facilities, and drug warehouses, attacking health personnel, and detaining some workers, while also restricting entry of essential medical equipment.
Despite a ceasefire that began on Oct. 10, Israel has continued to block agreed medical aid deliveries, worsening what the ministry described as a “critical and ongoing health emergency.”
According to the Gaza Government Media Office, Israeli army actions since the ceasefire have killed at least 401 Palestinians and injured 1,108.
Since October 2023, nearly 71,000 Palestinians—mostly women and children—have been killed, and over 171,000 injured in Israeli attacks on Gaza, leaving the enclave’s health system under immense strain.
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