Gaza’s medical system is decimated as chronic patients are left without care amid ongoing conflict.

Health services in Gaza are in a state of collapse, with medical staff reporting exhaustion after months of treating the casualties of the ongoing Israeli offensive. In the face of shortages in pain relief, anaesthetics, and medical supplies, doctors have been forced to perform surgeries such as amputations without anaesthetics and extract shrapnel without proper pain management. Meanwhile, children with life-threatening conditions, such as cancer, are dying due to the lack of treatment and facilities.

Interviews with medical professionals in Gaza reveal the full extent of the catastrophe, which is not just limited to the direct casualties of the conflict, but extends to those suffering from chronic and life-threatening illnesses. Tens of thousands of people, including cancer patients and those with conditions like heart disease and kidney failure, have gone months without the treatments they desperately need. These individuals are now “defenceless,” with weakened bodies, malnutrition, cold, and fatigue making them more vulnerable to further health deterioration.

In one heart-wrenching incident, a child with a brain condition died just hours before a UN team arrived with vital medicine. Cancer specialists in Gaza are struggling to treat the growing number of patients, particularly children suffering from leukaemia and other tumours that require immediate, life-saving surgery.

The acute crisis facing Gaza’s health system underscores the growing humanitarian disaster, as the medical infrastructure continues to buckle under the weight of the ongoing conflict and blockade.