Gaza Health Ministry issues desperate appeal to save health care system amid Israeli war

By Omar Alothmani

ISTANBUL (AA) - Gaza's Health Ministry issued a desperate appeal on Wednesday for providing electric generators to help salvage the ailing health care system in the besieged enclave.

In a statement, the ministry emphasized the critical need to purchase essential generators to ensure hospitals can continue functioning.

“For approximately nine months, the health care facilities have heavily relied on diesel-powered generators, which operate around the clock,” the statement said.

“However, many of these generators have suffered significant technical failures, making repairs difficult. Some have even been directly targeted and destroyed by the aggressive Israeli forces,” it added.

The ministry warned that several key generators are expected to go offline soon because necessary spare parts for preventive and regular maintenance are not being allowed in.

“This impending crisis threatens the lives of patients and exacerbates the already strained healthcare services," it said.

"The Israeli military has systematically attempted to disable the health care infrastructure by destroying electrical generators at major hospitals.”

The Al-Shifa Medical Complex in Gaza City, Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, and the Indonesian Hospital in Beit Lahia have all faced such attacks. Recently, the Kamal Adwan Hospital also lost its generators.

Flouting a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire, Israel has faced international condemnation amid its continued brutal offensive on Gaza since an Oct. 7 attack by Hamas.

Nearly 38,800 Palestinians have since been killed, mostly women and children, and more than 89,100 injured, according to local health authorities.

Over nine months into the Israeli onslaught, vast tracts of Gaza lie in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine.

Israel is accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, whose latest ruling ordered it to immediately halt its military operation in the southern city of Rafah, where more than 1 million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war before it was invaded on May 6.

*Writing by Mohammad Sio