Ankara: About 70% of electricity generators at hospitals in the Gaza Strip have gone out of service due to shortages of fuel, oil, and spare parts amid the ongoing Israeli blockade, the Health Ministry said Wednesday.
According to Anadolu Agency, Zaher Al-Wahidi, director of the ministry's Health Information Center, stated during a press conference at Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City that the shortages of fuel and oil pose a serious threat to critical and life-saving hospital departments, which could halt operations at any moment.
Wahidi rejected Israeli claims of facilitating the entry of medical aid and logistical supplies into the Gaza Strip, describing these efforts as attempts to 'improve the image' of the situation and to hide a campaign of 'ethnic cleansing' in the enclave. He stressed that the supplies allowed into Gaza 'represent only a very small amount' and fail to meet even the minimum operational needs of health facilities, putting them in a dire 'struggle between life and death.'
Wahidi further described the situation as 'a systematic and mass execution,' escalating beyond a humanitarian catastrophe to what he termed as a 'fully fledged health genocide.' The fuel crisis has also led to public transport companies and buses announcing a complete or near-total halt in operations on Wednesday, preventing hundreds of medical workers from reaching their workplaces and further isolating health facilities, thereby hampering their ability to respond to emergencies.
He noted that health facilities have turned into 'isolated structures slowly dying' under the comprehensive blockade, with essential necessities of life being prevented from entering. The situation is compounded by an 'unprecedented shortage' of medicines and medical supplies, disruptions in diagnostic equipment, and the closure of treatment routes abroad for patients and wounded individuals on waiting lists.
Wahidi called on the international community, the UN Security Council, the World Health Organization, and the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs to take 'immediate and urgent action' to allow the entry of essential medical and operational supplies.
Since the onset of Israel's genocidal war on Gaza on Oct. 8, 2023, nearly 74,000 Palestinians have perished, over 174,000 have been injured, and around 90% of the enclave's infrastructure has been devastated.