Gaza: Director of Hospitals at the Ministry of Health in Gaza, Dr. Mohammad Zaqout, warned that the health situation in Gaza's hospitals has plunged into a state of catastrophe amid the unrelenting Israeli onslaught, intensified bombardment, and deliberate targeting of medical infrastructure, which has forced multiple hospitals in southern Gaza to cease operations entirely.
According to Qatar News Agency, Zaqout underscored that the escalating Israeli airstrikes and soaring civilian casualties have overwhelmed Gaza medical personnel, rendering them incapable of managing the influx of critically wounded patients, particularly given the acute shortages of essential medicines and medical supplies caused by Israel's systematic blockade on humanitarian aid access.
Zaqout described the current health landscape as catastrophic, affirming that most remaining hospitals are operating at a bare minimum, stripped of capacity and resources. He emphasized that Gaza European Hospital in Khan Younis was completely decommissioned after sustaining extensive damage to its facilities, with all 28 intensive care beds, 12 neonatal incubators, 260 inpatient beds, and several emergency and oncology units rendered entirely non-operational.
Likewise, hospitals in northern Gaza remain under imminent threat as relentless airstrikes and impending ground incursions place both medical staff and patients in grave and immediate danger, Zaqout noted. He stated that the Indonesian Hospital in northern Gaza has been repeatedly shelled, causing roof collapses, structural fractures, shattered glass, and significantly endangering the lives of those inside.
The facility is struggling to accommodate a surge in severely injured cases, over 70% of whom are classified as critical, vastly exceeding the capacity of the medical teams, as Israeli restrictions continue to obstruct the delivery of lifesaving aid and medical equipment. Operating rooms, intensive care units, and emergency departments are functioning under extreme duress with depleted resources, relying on outdated surgical instruments and lacking essential devices such as mobile X-ray units, anesthesia equipment, and oxygen supply systems, Zaqout noted.
He further highlighted the collapse of neonatal intensive care capacity, where malfunctioning incubators and respiratory devices have compelled reliance on unstable power generators threatened by imminent fuel depletion, placing premature infants at existential risk. In parallel, he pointed to malnutrition-induced fatalities, particularly among children, citing 60 confirmed deaths attributed to severe nutritional deficiencies. He reported that a newborn in northern Gaza was delivered without a brain, a direct result of maternal malnutrition. The infant mortality rate has now surged to 32 deaths per 1,000 children under the age of five.
The contamination of water supplies has compounded the crisis, with 25% of water samples testing positive for infectious pathogens. Zaqout noted that 90% of families in Gaza are now facing severe water insecurity, further accelerating the spread of disease.
According to the Gaza Government Media Office, 38 hospitals have thus far been destroyed, set ablaze, or forcibly shut down due to direct Israeli strikes, in addition to dozens of health facilities damaged amid the ongoing military campaign. The humanitarian and healthcare crisis continues to unravel, as Israeli forces methodically target medical and humanitarian institutions, both international and local, while simultaneously obstructing the entry of urgently needed medical and relief supplies into Gaza.
Personnel shortages are also intensifying because of Israeli bombardment, arrests of medical workers, and the destruction of critical infrastructure, compounding the collapse of the health system under the weight of Israel's ongoing war against the besieged territory.