Nasser Hospital in the Gaza Strip has faced a surge of patients after the European Gaza Hospital was emptied following evacuation orders from the Israeli Occupying Forces (IOF) on July 1.
The European Gaza Hospital, with a capacity of approximately 650 beds, had about 320 patients at the time of the evacuation. All patients, staff, and families fled by the evening of the next day, fearing the hospital would be surrounded, besieged, and raided by the IOF—a pattern observed in other medical centers since October 7. While some patients were transported by ambulances, others had no choice but to walk 10 kilometers to Nasser Hospital.
“We have heard that patients have traveled on their own, either arriving at Nasser Hospital in beds or being walked by their families,” reported Doctors Without Borders (MSF).
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Although international organizations, including the World Health Organization (WHO), supported the translocation of equipment and supplies to Nasser Hospital, the situation remains unsustainable. MSF reports that departments designed to host approximately 50 patients have recently admitted double that number.
MSF staff also warned that patients are now lying on blankets on the floor due to a shortage of mattresses and beds. “The team has put nails on the wall so we can hang the intravenous fluids and medication we need to give patients, but it’s a very difficult situation, and the team is exhausted,” said MSF nurse activity manager Cristina Roldán.
“Overall, it’s a comprehensive issue—from shortages of beds and supplies to the lack of surgeons. With yet another hospital closed, patients’ lives are even more at risk,” commented Javid Abdelmoneim, another MSF staff member at Nasser Hospital.
The supply of medicines and fuel to the 15 partially operational hospitals in Gaza remains far below what is necessary. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned that health infrastructure in Gaza needs at least 80,000 liters of fuel per day, while only 90,000 liters overall entered the Strip on July 3. Consequently, those organizing and delivering humanitarian aid and health workers are forced to make impossible choices about fuel allocation and delivery of care.
The obstruction of humanitarian aid by the IOF, along with ongoing physical attacks impeding movement within Gaza, has severely continued to hamper planned humanitarian missions. The United Nations reported that between July 1 and 4, of the 13 planned missions to northern Gaza, only one proceeded as scheduled. Nine missions were impeded, two were canceled for logistical and security reasons, and one was denied access.
The combination of attacks and lack of essential supplies continues to exacerbate health problems in the area. Nutritious food is unavailable to an overwhelming majority of Gaza’s population, especially in the north, contributing to issues like anemia in children. “No commercial food supplies have reached the area [Jabaliya] for nearly two months, and the prices of the few products available on the local market are exorbitantly high,” the UN stated.
No improvement in the state of health and healthcare in Gaza can be foreseen unless there is an immediate and sustained ceasefire.
People’s Health Dispatch is a fortnightly bulletin published by the People’s Health Movement and Peoples Dispatch. For more articles and subscription to People’s Health Dispatch, click here.
