Israel agreed a month ago to fight the massive fires in Gaza, and Hamas did not guarantee that 78-year-old Mohammed al-Zuhairi would have access to medication to treat his chronic asthma. “I didn’t even know the inhaler I used was available in Gaza. The painkillers helped, but it wasn’t real treatment,” said the father of five and 30 children, two of whom died during the war. He had to travel from Tal al-Zatar in the north to the center of Gaza. Health officials have announced that no treatments are yet available for this lung disease or many others.
Al-Zuhairi recently received camping equipment, tarpaulins, or even food baskets, despite the fact that winter is approaching and asthma patients’ conditions worsen with cold weather and lack of proper food. “You can only find food at nearby social eateries,” he says. In the next few days, his 44-year-old son Iyad will become a priest. “I hope that living conditions will improve, but nothing has changed,” he laments.
Currently, 18 of Franja’s 36 hospitals are partially operational, according to a UN report. Four of them managed to open after the fire started from the top. Additionally, WHO reports that there are seven centers caring for children with severe acute malnutrition. According to their calculations, there are approximately 25,000 children under the age of five in Gaza who are malnourished and need urgent treatment.
Zaher al-Wahidi, director of the Health Information Center at the Ministry of Health in Franja, who has led the Islamist Hamas movement since 2007, said no improvements in the health sector had been recorded a month after the fires took effect. According to the chief, 10 to 15 people die every day due to the lack of available medical services.
For example, Al-Wahidi explains that in recent weeks, the drug shortage rate has increased from 54% to 55%. The shortage of primary care medicines has reached 56%, meaning that a large proportion of patients with chronic diseases (heart disease, diabetes, hypertension) do not receive regular treatment. Al-Wahidi said the shortage rate of medicines in emergency situations had reached 38%, an “unprecedented and dangerous” rate for services that take on more patients.
According to Gazette Ministry sources, no magnetic resonance machines are operational in Gaza, although the Israeli military has destroyed or disabled seven machines. Of the 17 computed tomography scanners, only six are functional. Faced with this panorama, al-Wahidi is skeptical about the next stage of the fire. “Everything is very confusing because the politicians themselves do not have a clear vision. They cannot predict or expect how the situation will turn out.”
“Medical workers are extremely exhausted. We have lost 1,722 professionals, 361 have been detained by occupation forces, and 440 have abandoned Gaza,” Al-Wahidi said, highlighting the urgent need for a specialized medical delegation.
In the north, the situation is particularly critical due to the level of destruction, warns Caroline Seguin, coordinator of the Gaza Emergency Medical Center. “Hospitals are not functioning at all. There are several hospitals in Gaza City that are still operating at medium capacity, but they are all partially destroyed. There is a lack of primary health care services and probably secondary health care as well.”
The health sector has not experienced the expected improvements, and no real or fundamental changes have occurred in its reality.
Zaher Al Wahidi Director of Health Information Center, Ministry of Health
The UN sexual and reproductive health agency, UNFPA, warned in July that beleaguered women and newborn babies in Gaza were facing “catastrophic” conditions due to the country’s collapsed health system, stress and food shortages. At that point, it was estimated that shortages of essential medicines and destruction of hospitals, as well as critical neonatal care, had been reduced by 70%.
For cancer patients, 67% of needed drugs and treatments are not available. According to the Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR), there were approximately 12,500 people suffering from cancer in Gaza before the war broke out. In May, Israeli attacks crippled European hospitals and chemotherapy in the surrounding area was completely halted, and Nasser Hospital has been providing minimal chemotherapy services ever since.
Gaza also lacks basic supplies such as syringes, gloves and masks, as well as laboratories and equipment, making it impossible to carry out critical tests on chronic patients. In 2024, the Palestinian Ministry of Health estimated that approximately 350,000 people in the Gaza Strip suffering from chronic diseases such as diabetes, cancer, cardiovascular disease, kidney disease, and respiratory diseases were unable to access medical examinations and necessary treatment due to the war.
At the same time, Israel is also limiting the number of foreign medical missions entering Gaza and the number of patients evacuating to receive treatment abroad. According to WHO data, only 165 people have been evacuated since the fire broke out on October 10. Approximately 16,500 patients need to be urgently evacuated to receive medical care, these sources said.
The number of patients crossing the Kerem Shalom border with Israel for treatment abroad has dropped from about 100 per month before the war to 43 in two months.
According to Gaza Ministry data, the number of dialysis patients decreased from 1,244 to 622. Of the patients who did not receive treatment, 43 died in Israeli bombing, 44 left Gaza to receive treatment, and the rest died without access to treatment.
U.S. President Donald Trump’s Gaza plan, which was the basis for negotiations on a ceasefire between Hamas and Israel, predicted that the same amount of humanitarian aid would flow into the border as was recorded in the first month of the year, when truck traffic fluctuated between 500 and 600 trucks per day. However, these numbers have not been met and, as international and local humanitarian organizations have denounced, the humanitarian aid Israel is allowing is not enough to meet the vast needs.
Of the amount of aid flowing into Gaza, aid to the health sector is clearly insufficient. For example, on November 11, more than 3,700 aid packages were delivered by United Nations agencies. According to data from the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), about 67% was food, and only about 1% was health supplies.
Since the fires broke out, Israel has denied entry to Gaza to more than 6,490 tons of UN-coordinated humanitarian aid, these sources said. A large portion of that included medical supplies.
MSF has confirmed that it has been able to bring in some trucks loaded with medical supplies, but there are still many items that cannot be accessed due to Israeli controls. “I’m referring to computed tomography machines, X-ray machines, and even critical surgical equipment,” Seguin specifies.
Asmar al-Kher, 39, slowly walks along Gaza’s Mediterranean coast carrying his children’s clothes, which he has washed in seawater. There is no fresh water for washing clothes, dishes or bathing. Her 3-year-old son Mahmoud still needs clean clothes due to recurring illness and a severe cold.
Al Hel’s bare feet crowd the arena. She is a divorced mother of 13 children (seven children and six girls; she has been the mayor of Qusay for 19 years) and has no source of income. Her ex-husband abandoned them without any help. He surrounded the store with blankets and tattered canvas and collapsed in front of the store. Mahmoud jumps into the water and the children gather around him to eat food. Most of the time it’s average and nothing is eaten. “It’s been a month since the fire started, but nothing has changed for us,” Al Hel said.
“I can’t support you anymore because I’m not strong,” says Al Hel. “I am forced to endure this situation that no human being can endure. I am so exhausted and depressed that I want to cry until I die. I am not alive. This reality looks like death.”
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