Gaza strip: The Gaza Strip is facing a severe health crisis that threatens eye patients after thousands of civilians were injured during the Israeli war. Among them are children who may permanently lose their sight due to the critical shortage of medicines and medical supplies, and the disruption of specialized surgical procedures.

According to Qatar News Agency, thirteen-year-old Mohammed Shaheen, who lost sight in his right eye, is trying to move around with his mother's help inside the eye hospital in Gaza, seeking treatment to save his left eye from damage after it was injured during an Israeli bombing that targeted his home in the recent Israeli aggression.

Shaheen's mother told QNA correspondent: "Since my son lost sight in one eye, we have been trying with all the doctors and specialized hospitals to save the other one from damage caused by the severe injury. However, the reality of the situation in the hospitals and the suspension of eye surgeries due to the shortage of equipment, medicines, and medical supplies threatens my son with lifelong blindness."

The case of the child Shaheen is one of thousands of Palestinians who sustained eye injuries during the two years of the Israeli war on the Gaza Strip. A large percentage of these victims are children, and their lives are threatened by the ongoing repercussions of the Israeli aggression and the imposed siege on the Strip. The occupation prevents critical cases from traveling abroad for treatment and blocks the entry of medicines, medical equipment, and supplies necessary for doctors to perform specialized and complex surgeries, including eye surgeries for both the injured and the sick.

Commenting, Director of the Eye Hospital in the Gaza Strip and a consultant in ophthalmology, Dr. Abdulsalam Sabah confirmed that those injured in the Israeli war face a real risk of losing their sight due to the lack of appropriate treatments and equipment. He noted that the hospital records daily cases of vision loss among the injured and sick as a result of the inability to provide them with suitable treatment or perform the necessary surgical interventions, while the Israeli occupation continues its siege of the Strip and prevents the entry of medicines, supplies, and medical equipment.

Speaking to Qatar News Agency (QNA), Dr. Sabah stated that many eye injuries require immediate medical intervention, particularly those involving penetrating eyeballs and the entry of shrapnel. This can lead to serious infections that may result in complete vision loss and necessitate enucleation (removal of the eye). He emphasized that delaying immediate intervention in such cases leads to irreversible and total vision loss.

He explained that, according to health statistics, the number of injuries sustained during the war on Gaza exceeded 171,000. He noted that approximately 11 percent of these injuries were eye injuries, amounting to roughly 17,000 cases. Children constitute 20 percent of these injuries and are the most vulnerable to vision loss due to their weaker immune systems. This situation foreshadows a rise in the number of visually impaired individuals in the community.

Sabah pointed out that the number of those who lost their sight during the war on Gaza has exceeded 3,000, although accurate final statistics are not yet available. He anticipates that the actual number of eye injuries, once officially and definitively tallied, will be significantly higher and more shocking.

The director of the Gaza Eye Hospital stressed that specialized eye surgery teams are suffering from a severe shortage of resources due to the lack of necessary medical equipment and the continued Israeli occupation's prevention of thousands of eye patients from receiving treatment outside the Gaza Strip. He explained that eye patients are often denied permission to travel for treatment outside Gaza under the pretext that they are not considered a "life-saving priority," despite the permanent visual impairments they face, which threaten their lives.

Dr. Sabah stated that the specialized eye hospital in Gaza, which was recently rebuilt after being destroyed during the last Israeli military operation in Gaza City before the ceasefire, is currently focusing its efforts on performing emergency and life-saving surgeries for the eyeball and vision, such as repairing and closing wounds, and attempting to provide treatment with the limited resources available. He warned that medical supplies will run out in less than two months, which will lead to a complete halt in emergency surgical interventions for eye patients and those injured in the Gaza Strip.

In the same context, Head of Operations and Anesthesia Department at the Gaza Eye Hospital, Dr. Iyad Abu Karsh explained that the hospital in northern Gaza alone received approximately 2,077 eye injuries between January 2024 and September 2025, noting that eye injuries constituted five percent of all war injuries during that period.

Dr. Iyad told QNA that 18 percent of the injuries resulted in eye eruption, while 34 percent involved foreign bodies in the eye, and nine percent of the injured suffered injuries to both eyes, increasing the likelihood of permanent vision loss.

For his part, Coordinator of the Gaza Center for Human Rights, Mohammed Khairi expressed his deep concern regarding the alarming increase in the number of eye injuries during the Israeli military offensive, given the continued obstruction by the occupation army of the entry of essential medical equipment necessary for saving eyesight and diagnosing war injuries.

Khairi revealed to QNA that the human rights center's documentation and the testimonies it collected from the injured indicate that the Israeli army deliberately inflicts permanent disabilities on Palestinian civilians, including directly targeting them with sniper fire aimed at their eyes, in addition to injuries resulting from shelling and the use of projectiles that disperse large quantities of shrapnel.

He pointed out that approximately 5,000 patients with eye injuries are at risk of total or partial vision loss due to the denial of treatment. This is a result of the Israeli occupation's destruction of the eye hospital's infrastructure, including generators and surgical equipment, and its prevention of the entry of medicines, supplies, and medical consumables. The shortage of treatments has exacerbated serious conditions such as glaucoma, corneal problems, retinal issues, and cataracts, threatening patients with permanent blindness.

Khairi explained that approximately 2,400 patients are on waiting lists and urgently need surgeries that are unavailable in Gaza. He emphasized that the Israeli army not only inflicts injuries but also deliberately denies the injured access to treatment by preventing travel and obstructing the entry of necessary medical equipment and supplies.

The coordinator of the human rights center pointed out that the eye hospital in Gaza is suffering from a severe shortage of essential diagnostic equipment needed to treat war injuries. This is due to the Israeli occupation's refusal to allow the entry of such equipment, despite international organizations' willingness to cover the full cost. As a result, medical staff are forced to provide initial treatment using basic tools and rudimentary equipment inadequate for the scale and severity of the injuries.

He emphasized that the continued prevention of the entry of medical equipment and supplies constitutes a crime of collective punishment and a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law, particularly the Fourth Geneva Convention.

The health sector and hospitals in Gaza are suffering from a shortage of essential medicines and specialized equipment for performing complex surgical procedures. The Israeli occupation has destroyed and rendered inoperable a number of major hospitals in the Gaza Strip, while those that remain lack medical equipment and supplies. This poses a serious threat to the lives of the wounded and sick, and exacerbates the humanitarian crisis faced by nearly two million people besieged in the Gaza Strip, who are denied humanitarian aid by the occupation.