Gaza's Collapsing Healthcare System: Doctors Struggle to Save Lives Amidst Bombs and Blockades

As the Israel-Hamas conflict enters its ninth month, Gaza's healthcare system stands on the brink of total collapse. What remains of medical services operates under conditions that doctors describe as "medieval" and "apocalyptic."

By the Numbers:

• 27 of 36 hospitals completely non-functional (WHO)
• 65% of primary care clinics destroyed or damaged
• 95% of hospitals face severe medicine shortages
• 1 doctor per 10,000 patients (compared to 1:300 pre-war)

Dr. Marwan Al-Hams, director of Rafah's Al-Najjar Hospital, describes the reality: "We're performing surgeries by flashlight, using vinegar as disinfectant. Children scream as we amputate limbs without anesthesia. This isn't medicine - this is torture."

Inside Gaza's Last Functioning Hospitals

Al-Shifa Hospital: From Pride to Ruin

Once Gaza's largest medical complex, Al-Shifa has become a symbol of the healthcare collapse:

• November 2023: IDF raids claiming Hamas tunnels underneath
• Current status: 80% of buildings destroyed
• Remaining staff: 30 doctors serving 500+ daily casualties

A nurse who identified herself as Umm Mohammed shared: "We wrap newborns in aluminum foil to keep them warm when incubators fail. Some days we choose who lives by who gets the last oxygen tank."

The Cancer Ward Crisis

• 35,000 cancer patients without treatment
• 9 pediatric oncology patients died in May alone
• Last chemotherapy dose administered February 2024

12-year-old Leila's mother pleads: "My daughter survived leukemia once. Now she'll die because Israel won't let in the medicines that could save her."

The Silent Killers: Disease and Malnutrition

Epidemics Running Rampant

• 160,000+ cases of acute respiratory infections
• 85,000+ cases of watery diarrhea (half in children under 5)
• Hepatitis A outbreak in crowded shelters

Starvation as a Weapon

• 32% of children under 2 severely malnourished (UNICEF)
• Newborn deaths from dehydration up 300%
• Breastfeeding mothers producing no milk

Dr. Firas Al-Najjar reports: "We're seeing kwashiorkor - a protein deficiency disease I've only seen in textbooks. Children's bodies swell while their bones protrude."

The Human Toll: Voices From the Rubble

Amputations Without Anesthesia

Ahmed, 9, woke during his leg amputation: "I bit through my uncle's hand to stay quiet so the soldiers wouldn't hear us."

Giving Birth in Hell

An estimated 50,000 pregnant women face:

• 180 daily births in bombed-out hospitals
• C-section rates doubled due to maternal malnutrition
• Newborn mortality up 260%

Midwife Samirah: "We use car headlights for delivery lighting. When those fail, we birth by phone flashlights."

International Response: Too Little, Too Late?

Aid Organizations Sound the Alarm

• WHO: "The worst medical catastrophe we've documented"
• MSF: "The systematic destruction of healthcare amounts to a war crime"
• UNRWA: "We've entered the stage of mass preventable deaths"

The Blockade Continues

Despite international pressure:

• 70% of medical aid requests denied by Israel (WHO)
• 8 of 20 planned field hospitals operational
• 15 aid workers killed while delivering care