Gaza Herald – Gaza’s Government Media Office said Israel had deliberately limited the entry of medical supplies since the ceasefire, allowing only basic emergency items that were consumed immediately, preventing any real improvement in Gaza’s collapsing healthcare system.
Ismail Al-Thawabta, head of the Government Media Office, said Israel blocked specialized medical equipment, advanced surgical tools, orthopedic devices, and medicines for chronic and cancer patients, leaving hospitals unable to deliver life-saving care.
He warned that medical services had become fragmented and insufficient, with many hospitals forced to fully or partially suspend surgeries due to shortages of anesthesia, surgical supplies, and essential consumables, placing patients at risk of death or permanent disability.
Al-Thawabta said nearly 500,000 surgeries were currently backlogged, while remaining hospitals operated far beyond capacity, with exhausted staff, fuel shortages, and critically limited resources, pushing the health sector close to “total functional paralysis.”
He added that less than 10 percent of Gaza’s actual medical needs had been allowed in, calling Israel’s restrictions a systematic violation of international humanitarian law and a form of collective punishment, and urged urgent international intervention to lift the blockade and save civilian lives.
