The Health System in Gaza Has Collapsed

Neonatal intensive care unit, Kamal Adwan Hospital.

The genocide waged by the Zionist occupying Israeli state against the Palestinian people, with the military, logistical and political backing of US and European imperialism, is not confined to direct massacres alone. Alongside mass killings, the genocidal process has also been carried out through the deliberate starvation of the population, the destruction of medical facilities, and the razing of physical infrastructure. From the very first days of the genocide, the Israeli army has consciously targeted Gaza’s health system and infrastructure.

In this week’s issue of The Economist (18 December 2025), an article entitled “Just 74 intensive-care beds remain in Gaza” was published, summarising the scale of the devastation inflicted on Gaza’s health system and infrastructure. Even before reading the article, I was of course aware that the situation was horrific. However, once confronted with the details, the full gravity of the situation becomes far more starkly apparent.

Of the 35 hospitals and clinics in Gaza, six have been completely razed to the ground. Eleven facilities are no longer able to provide any services at all. The remaining 18 healthcare facilities are only partially operational. Moreover, some of these are located in areas under Israeli control, meaning that for the vast majority of Gaza’s residents, access to them is effectively impossible.

The 18 hospitals and clinics that remain partially operational are themselves in an extremely dire condition. In sixteen of them, infected medical waste cannot be safely disposed of. Fifteen lack a regular electricity supply. Thirteen have no proper toilets or washbasins, while eleven have no access to clean and reliable water. As highlighted in the headline of the The Economist article, across the whole of Gaza today there are only 74 intensive-care beds and 215 emergency-room beds remaining.

The shortage of medical supplies has reached appalling levels. From fuel to medicines, from IV bags to needles and gauze, many essential medical consumables are either available only in extremely limited quantities or have been completely exhausted. In northern Gaza, there is not a single MRI machine. Only one CT scanner remains operational. Critically ill newborn babies are forced to share incubators due to the sheer lack of resources.

At Nasr Hospital, the largest hospital in the south, the glass of the main autoclave used to sterilise medical equipment was shattered by a bullet during the war. Despite the time that has passed, the glass has still not been replaced. Surgeons treating cases of amputation, severe burns, and spinal and limb trauma have access to only five sets of skin-graft surgical instruments across the whole of Gaza. Under normal circumstances, each hospital should have at least four sets of these instruments.

The problem is not confined to physical destruction alone; the ongoing siege of Gaza, the obstruction of supplies, and the continued enforcement of arbitrary so-called “dual-use” restrictions systematically sabotage any effort to restore healthcare services. The Zionist state continues to block the entry into Gaza of numerous medical items it designates as “dual-use”. These include surgical instruments, X-ray equipment, and solar-powered refrigerators used to store medicines. Moreover, the list of items deemed “dual-use” is neither clearly defined nor consistently applied, but enforced in an entirely arbitrary manner. This is one of the tactics frequently employed by Israel. Staff working for organisations delivering aid to Gaza report that, under these restrictions, even stethoscopes and surgical goggles have been confiscated.

An official conducting a damage assessment at Nasr Hospital.

During the war, at least 1,722 healthcare workers were killed. This figure represents roughly ten per cent of the health workforce. Around 80 detained healthcare workers are believed to still be held in Israeli prisons. Many healthcare workers have been forced to leave Gaza. Those who remain continue to work at a superhuman pace, while enduring bombardment and severe shortages of food and water.

With the deliberate blockade in place, leaving Gaza to receive medical treatment has become almost impossible. Before October 2023, between 50 and 100 patients were transferred each day to medical centres outside Gaza, primarily to East Jerusalem, for treatment. Since then, the total number of patients evacuated has reached 10,600 -an average of just 13 people per day. According to the World Health Organization, more than 18,500 patients, including 4,000 children, are still awaiting evacuation. Between July 2024 and October 2025, more than 930 people died because they could not be evacuated.

The data presented in The Economist, summarising the devastation of Gaza’s health system, paint a picture that is bleak and deeply disturbing.