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Rabat – The Turkish Friendship Hospital, the sole cancer treatment facility in the Gaza Strip, has been forced to halt its operations due to recent Israeli airstrikes and a severe shortage of fuel.
The Palestinian Minister of Health May Alkaila said that the dire situation has left the lives of 70 cancer patients hanging in the balance. In addition, the health conditions of the roughly 2,000 cancer patients in the besieged strip have become increasingly catastrophic due to the Israeli genocide of Palestinians.
The Palestinian Ministry of Health revealed that the cancer hospital is not the only healthcare facility that Israeli aggression has rendered inoperational. In total, 16 out of the 35 hospitals in the Gaza Strip have ceased operations due to the relentless bombings and depletion of essential resources.
Alkaila expressed concerns that the Al-Shifa Medical Complex, the largest hospital in the Gaza Strip, could also cease operations within the next 24 hours due to severe fuel shortage.
Currently, only the emergency, surgery, kidney dialysis, intensive care, and incubator wards remain operational at the Al-Shifa Medical Complex, and even those are operating on shoestring resources.
Meanwhile, medical staff, already stretched thin, covers less than 30% of the hospital’s needs.
In addition, an estimated 50,000 individuals displaced by the Israeli attacks have sought refuge in and around the Al-Shifa Medical Complex, making it a constant target for Israeli bombings.
The Israeli army bombed the Al Ahli Arab hospital in Gaza on October 17, killing more than 500 Palestinians including patients and displaced individuals seeking shelter, and injuring several others.
Alkaila noted that only a small fraction of patients in dire need have been allowed to leave the Gaza Strip for medical treatment in Egypt, while thousands of wounded individuals are left without access to critical care.
She appealed for an immediate cessation of the Israeli aggression and pleaded for the entry of essential medicines, medical supplies, volunteer medical teams, and the evacuation of the wounded for treatment.
