AMMAN — More than 20,500 patients in the Gaza Strip are awaiting medical evacuation after completing the required referral procedures, including more than 5,600 children and about 2,800 cancer patients, a Gaza Health Ministry official said.

 

Zaher Al Wahidi, director of the ministry’s Health Information Unit in Gaza, told Al Mamlaka that continued delays in evacuating patients were putting their lives at risk.

 

More than 194 patients awaiting evacuation are in immediate danger, Al Wahidi said, adding that more than 1,900 patients have died since May 7, 2024, while waiting for an opportunity to leave Gaza for medical treatment.

 

He said Gaza’s healthcare system has been severely undermined since the beginning of the war, limiting its ability to provide essential medical care.

 

Since the Rafah crossing reopened on February 1, about 2,500 patients have been evacuated, Al Wahidi said. The crossing operates for no more than about three days a week, with between 20 and 30 patients evacuated each day.

 

At that rate, evacuating all patients currently awaiting treatment would take years, he said, warning that many patients cannot afford to wait that long.

 

Only 19 of Gaza’s 38 hospitals are currently operating, including five government hospitals, according to Al Wahidi. “The remaining private and field hospitals are providing limited services.”

 

The number of available hospital beds has fallen from 3,650 before the war to fewer than 2,400, while the health system faces severe shortages of medicines, medical supplies and laboratory materials.

 

Al Wahidi said the shortage of medicines stands at 45 per cent, while the shortage of medical supplies exceeds 54 per cent. The deficit in laboratory materials and testing services has reached about 80 per cent.

 

Medicines used in primary healthcare, cancer treatment, emergency departments and intensive care units are among those in shortest supply, he said. The quantities entering Gaza cover only a limited portion of the health sector’s needs.

 

Shortages of specialised medical equipment have also disrupted healthcare services. Only four of more than 17 CT scanners are currently operational, serving a population of more than 2.2 million people, Al Wahidi said.

 

None of Gaza’s nine MRI machines is currently functioning, while only four of 12 mammography machines remain operational, he added.

 

The ongoing fuel shortage poses another major challenge to Gaza’s healthcare system, which has relied heavily on generators for electricity since the main power supply was disrupted at the beginning of the war, Al Wahidi said.

 

Hospitals are also facing shortages of fuel and spare parts needed to maintain generators and oxygen plants.

 

Only 34 of more than 110 generators in Gaza are currently operating, according to Al Wahidi. Many of the generators are deteriorating and require frequent maintenance, while no new generators have entered Gaza since the beginning of the war, he said.

 

The health system is also responsible for more than 250,000 people with chronic illnesses, including hypertension, diabetes and heart disease, who require regular treatment and ongoing medical follow-up, Al Wahidi said.