The Electronic Intifada 25 June 2024
A woman receives dialysis treatment at al-Aqsa hospital in Deir al-Balah in May. The extensive damage Israel has wrought on Gaza’s health sector, combined with the near total closure of entry of aid, means dialysis patients, who used to receive three four-hour treatments a week, can now only get one two-hour session a week.
APA imagesThe Israeli military’s invasion of Rafah and the subsequent closure of the land crossing there has left the southern Gaza Strip in a medical emergency.
I was fortunate to escape to Egypt just days before the crossing was shut, but the news of its closing was shocking because it is the only way in or out to the Gaza Strip. Residents are now completely trapped with no way to flee the genocide.
Patients are left in a worst-case scenario.
The impact of the Rafah crossing’s closure on medical treatment has been catastrophic, with the cessation of passenger traffic through the crossing, even for the most critically ill patients and those injured in the ongoing genocide, and the entry of aid trucks stopped.
With the announcement of the Israeli military’s Rafah invasion, the Abu Youssef al-Najjar hospital in Gaza was ordered to evacuate.
After being shelled by Israeli tanks, the hospital was knocked out of service, and most of the medical instruments were burned or destroyed.
According to the UN on 6 June, there are no functioning hospitals left in Rafah.
This has left hundreds of thousands without access to essential medical care.
Basic necessities
Among the worst affected are cancer and dialysis patients. The Gaza Strip was already woefully under-equipped for these patients, with a chronic lack of the necessary medical care infrastructure.
Now, the Israeli military is turning hospitals into military bases and war zones.
With the destruction of Gaza’s largest hospital, al-Shifa, only a few dialysis chairs are now available to over 1,000 patients with the kidney disorder and in need of regular treatment, according to my father, Dr. Khaled Madi, a surgeon, who is also a dialysis patient.
My father was displaced to al-Mawasi in Khan Younis. He still works part time and takes his dialysis sessions at an overcrowded hospital there.
My family has registered my dad’s name to travel to get medical treatment abroad.
The lack of medical supplies and equipment is only part of the problem. Basic necessities, such as nutritious food, are also scarce, and more than one in five households go “entire days without eating,” according to the UN.
Watching people’s health deteriorate from one day to the next is heartbreaking.
The shortage of dialysis chairs has forced a reduction in the number of sessions each patient receives, my father pointed out, compounding their suffering. Even when their turn for treatment arrives, getting to a hospital can also be challenge due to the occupation’s blockade of fuel supplies, which has paralyzed transportation.
According to the UN, of 17 hospitals still barely functioning in Gaza, 14 are only “partially accessible.”
Polluted water, the lack of electricity, and destroyed infrastructure all exacerbate the health crisis. Hospitals and roads have been bulldozed and bombed, and there is a severe shortage of medicines and health supplies, leaving patients in dire straits.
The situation in Gaza is a stark reminder of the human cost of Israel’s unhinged attack.
And while there is much talk, there is little action from an international community that must urgently address this humanitarian crisis to prevent further loss of life and alleviate the suffering of those trapped in this dire situation.
Ultimately, of course, the crisis can only be solved by ending this genocide.
Alaa Madi is a writer from the Gaza Strip.
