Fuel shortage forces 6 Gaza health facilities to shut down

GAZA CITY, Palestine / ISTANBUL

Services have ceased at six health facilities in the Gaza Strip due to a fuel shortage exacerbated by Israel’s continued closure of border crossings since March, the Health Ministry said on Tuesday.

A ministry statement listed the affected sites as Al-Khidmah Hospital, the central oxygen station, Al-Salam Clinic, Al-Shati Clinic, Al-Jalaa Medical Center, and the Haidar Abdel Shafi Medical Center.

It said the shutdown followed repeated warnings and was caused by “Israel’s persistent refusal to allow the World Health Organization to deliver fuel to hospitals in Gaza and the north.”

The ministry warned that services at all remaining hospitals across Gaza could stop within 48 hours if fuel supplies do not resume.

It described Israel’s continued obstruction of fuel and medical supply deliveries as “a deliberate attempt to destroy what remains of the health system.”

Last week, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) warned that fuel shortages in Gaza had reached critical levels.

A joint statement issued by several UN agencies on July 12 said that without fuel, humanitarian operations would collapse. It emphasized that fuel is “the lifeline” in Gaza – powering hospitals, water and sewage networks, ambulances, and all aspects of humanitarian aid.

The shutdown comes as Gaza’s health system faces total collapse, with Israel repeatedly targeting hospitals and medical centers still operating in the besieged enclave.

Israel has killed more than 59,100 Palestinians, most of them women and children, in the Gaza Strip since October 2023.

Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.