GAZA CITY
Gaza officials warn of collapsing health services
Palestinian officials warn that health services in the Gaza Strip are collapsing due to severe shortages of drugs and medical equipment in the wake of Israel's devastating 51-day onslaught on the blockaded enclave.
Health Ministry-run hospitals are running out of medicine, which could lead to a public health catastrophe, ministry undersecretary Youssef Abo al-Rish said at ministry headquarters in Gaza City.
Calling on the new Palestinian unity government to "shoulder its responsibilities" vis-à-vis the Gaza Strip, Abo al-Rish said the ministry should stay out of inter-Palestinian political wrangling.
Tensions have mounted recently between Hamas, which remains in de facto control of the Gaza Strip, and Fatah, led by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.
In recent months, rifts have emerged between the two factions in spite of a June reconciliation agreement that yielded a unity government headed by West Bank-based Prime Minister Rami al-Hamdullah.
The unity government has yet to assume full control of the Hamas-run Gaza Strip. Both factions, meanwhile, continue to accuse one another of attempting to derail the reconciliation deal.
The deal ended seven years of division between the two factions, which had led to the establishment of two separate seats of Palestinian government: Fatah in the West Bank and Hamas in Gaza.
Ashraf Abu Mahadi, head of the Health Ministry's pharmacy department, warned that 38.5 percent of Gaza's medicine supplies had run out, with little hope of resupply in the short-term future.
Tumor patients in particular have suffered, he said, due to the lack of 30 important drugs.
"Since the unity government took over, the health sector in Gaza has seen unprecedented deterioration," Mahadi asserted.
Bassam Hamadeen, head of the ministry's maintenance department, decried the poor condition of Gaza's hospitals, citing serious shortfalls of supplies and spare parts.
"Hospitals are also reeling under frequent power outages, making it difficult to provide proper healthcare," he added. "They depend on dilapidated power generators that we cannot rely on for long."
Much of the Gaza Strip's power network, including a power line that carries electricity from Israel, was damaged during Israel's recent 51-day offensive.
Gaza's main power plant was forced to shut down after it was targeted in July during Israel's weeks-long offensive against the coastal enclave.
The onslaught left more than 2,150 Palestinians dead and over 11,000 injured.
Over the course of the Israeli offensive, which was initially launched with the aim of ending rocket fire from Gaza, at least 72 Israelis – 67 soldiers and five civilians – were killed, according to Israeli figures.
The conflict ended after the two sides signed an open-ended cease-fire deal in Cairo on August 26.
Egypt is currently hosting indirect talks between Palestinian and Israeli negotiators in hopes of reaching a permanent cease-fire arrangement.
Gaza hospital cleaners to strike Wednesday
Hospital cleaners across the Gaza Strip will stage a three-day strike on Wednesday to demand overdue salaries from the Palestinian Health Ministry.
"Around 700 hospital cleaners will begin a three-day strike on Wednesday," the union of cleaning companies said in a Tuesday statement.
The union accused the new Palestinian unity government of "ignoring [Gaza's] cleaners and their dire humanitarian and economic conditions."
Last week, hospital cleaners staged a partial strike to demand overdue salaries.
Health Ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qodra, for his part, warned of the action's potential impact on hospitals.
"The strike will put patients and citizens at risk of a health catastrophe," al-Qodra told Anadolu Agency.
Local cleaning companies complain their workers have not been paid since June, calling on the Palestinian unity government to intervene to resolve the problem.
Rival Palestinian factions Fatah and Hamas signed a reconciliation deal in April, which led to the formation of a national unity government.
The unity government has yet to assume responsibility for the Gaza Strip, however, hampering the disbursement of public-sector salaries in the coastal territory.
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