With Israel's fuel blockade, Palestine stares at a crippling healthcare system

Rescuers search for victims or survivors under the rubble of a house destroyed in an Israeli strike on Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on October 22. (Image: AFP)

The humanitarian crisis in war-hit Gaza continues to flare up further, with just a few more hours left for the densely populated strip to exhaust all supplies of fuel on October 25.

According to the health ministry in the Gaza Strip, power backups in healthcare facilities will come to a stop by October 25, owing to the fuel shortage.

On October 23, the ministry stated that at least 32 healthcare facilities have come to a halt after Israel blocked Gaza from accessing essential supplies, particularly fuel, amid its continued raids in the Strip.

Ashraf al-Qedra, spokesperson for the ministry, has appealed for an “immediate flow” of fuel and critical medical supplies and fuel into the Gaza Strip.

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“After the complete collapse of the healthcare system, we need an immediate flow of medical aid and fuel to restore work in our life-saving departments,” he wrote on microblogging site X, formerly Twitter.

His remarks come as the World Health Organization (WHO) warned that without “vital fuel and additional health supplies”, thousands of vulnerable patients in Gaza will be at risk.

According to a report in Al Jazeera, operations at the Indonesian hospital, in northern Gaza’s Beit Lahia area, had to be suspended as the facility exhausted its fuel reserve, and was unable to run vital functions needed to take care of critical patients.

On October 11, the Palestinian Energy Authority announced that Gaza's sole power plant – the Gaza power plant - has stopped functioning due to a lack of adequate fuel, further worsening the essential services situation in Gaza.

Israel, on October 9, declared the imposition of a "total blockade" on Gaza, prohibiting the passage of fuel and food into the Strip.

“I have ordered a complete siege on the Gaza Strip. There will be no electricity, no food, no fuel… everything is closed. We are fighting human animals, and we act accordingly,” the Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant had announced.

A Strip under darkness

Gaza, home to around 2.3 million people, is seeing a crippling healthcare infrastructure. Disturbing videos have been making rounds in social media, showing healthcare practitioners and citizens appealing for help for distressed patients, especially critically ill children amidst Israel's continued air strikes on Gaza.

Ministry spokesperson, Ashraf al-Qudra, had last week, expressed his despair at the sluggish pace of humanitarian aid flowing into Gaza, terming it as “slow" and that it "cannot change the reality” on the ground.

Meanwhile, Hassan Khalaf, the medical director of Al-Wafa Hospital in Gaza City, has said that, at present, at least 100 new-born babies are dependent on electricity-run medical equipment in the Gaza Strip, as reported in Al Jazeera.

“These new-borns, they could not survive because they depend in every aspect of life on electricity and equipment,” he told Al Jazeera. “They are very tiny. They are very weak," Khalaf has further noted, highlighting the worsening crisis in the city.

Israel draws flak from global community

Israel, which initially found support from the international community for its prompt response to Hamas' October 7 attack on grounds of self-defence, is now drawing strong criticism for blocking the passage of humanitarian aid into Gaza. Communities and groups across the world have been voicing their concerns over Israel's war strategies, calling it a humanitarian crisis.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volcker Turk, on October 10, had noted that the blockade of food and fuel supplies, among other essential commodities to the Gaza Strip, is a breach of international law.

Israel's aid flow suspension into Gaza has been strongly criticised by the European Union (EU) as well. The bloc's foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, has also voiced the same concern, saying the country was violating international law.

The Israel-Hamas conflict

On October 7, Hamas terrorists launched a large-scale surprise offensive on Israel, killing nearly 1,400 civilians in the country. According to the Israel Defence Forces, Hamas terrorists launched at least 2,200 rockets towards southern and central Israel, including Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, in the early morning hours that day. However, Hamas later stated that the terror outfit fired nearly 5,000 rockets - all towards southern and central Israel.

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The WHO, on October 23, urged for an “immediate humanitarian ceasefire” in order to allow the passage of fuel and healthcare aid to Gaza. It warned that thousands of critically ill patients would face high risks if the fuel supply cut to the Strip is not lifted with immediate effect.

Israel took little time to launch a retaliatory attack on the Gaza Strip, with the nation's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowing revenge for the attack on his country.

Till date, since Israel launched its retaliatory attack, over 5,000 Palestinians have been killed, it is learnt from Gaza’s Health Ministry. Nearly 40 percent of these victims are children, the ministry has noted.