Aysar Alais
05 January 2025•Update: 05 January 2025
ISTANBUL
Gaza’s Health Ministry warned Sunday of a severe shortage of medicine and medical supplies amid Israel’s genocidal war on the Palestinian enclave.
“Stocks of 120 medicines, including 20 cancer treatments, are completely depleted in the ministry’s warehouses," health official Wael al-Sheikh told the official Palestine TV.
He said the ministry’s debt is nearing three billion shekels (approximately $800 million).
The ongoing Israeli war on Gaza, now in its 15th month, has exacerbated the Palestinian Authority (PA)'s financial crisis, primarily due to increased Israeli deductions from Palestinian tax revenues.
Since Oct. 7, 2023, Israel has been withholding approximately 45% of the monthly tax revenues, known in Palestine and Israel as maqasa, which are collected by the Israeli government on behalf of the PA on Palestinian imports and exports and Israel in return earns a commission of 3%.
The revenues are estimated to total around $220 million every month and represent the main source of income for the PA.
The Israeli army has continued a genocidal war on Gaza that has killed more than 45,800 victims, mostly women and children, since a Hamas attack on Oct. 7, 2023, despite a UN Security Council resolution calling for an immediate cease-fire.
In November, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and 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 deadly war on Gaza.
* Writing by Ikram Kouachi
