Gaza’s hospitals remain trapped in a humanitarian emergency

For many observers, discussions about Gaza centre on ceasefires, military operations, and diplomatic negotiations.

Yet behind the headlines lies a human rights crisis: the collapse of Gaza’s healthcare system.

Even when fighting temporarily subsides, the conditions facing hospitals, doctors, and patients remain catastrophic. Medical facilities that should be providing routine care are instead struggling to perform lifesaving operations with limited medicine, damaged infrastructure, and exhausted staff. While political leaders debate the future of Gaza, millions of civilians continue to depend on a healthcare system that is barely functioning.

A health system pushed beyond its limits

According to Adel Zanoon, the head of The Next Century Foundation in Gaza, the scale of destruction facing Gaza’s medical sector is immense. As of May 2026, only a fraction of Gaza’s hospitals remain capable of providing a full range of services, while many facilities have been damaged or destroyed during the conflict. The hospitals in Gaza had been damaged or destroyed, with only 19 of 36 hospitals still operational in some capacity.

The consequences are visible across every aspect of healthcare. Hospitals face shortages of medicines, diagnostic equipment, fuel, and specialist personnel. Patients requiring cancer treatment, advanced surgery, rehabilitation, or specialist care often cannot access the treatment they need.

The humanitarian burden is enormous. Estimating tens of thousands of injured people require long-term rehabilitation, while specialised healthcare services remain severely limited.

Aid remains insufficient

Humanitarian organisations have repeatedly argued that Gaza requires large-scale aid deliveries simply to meet basic civilian needs.

Under the ceasefire arrangements discussed earlier this year, aid agencies anticipated that up to 600 aid trucks could enter Gaza daily. However, actual deliveries have often fallen well below that figure to about 200 trucks each day. International aid and the UN officials have warned that medical supplies, fuel, and hospital equipment remain critically scarce.

The shortage extends beyond medicines. Hospitals need replacement equipment, generators, spare parts, and specialist teams capable of restoring services that have collapsed over the course of the conflict. Medical workers frequently report that equipment necessary for diagnosis and treatment is either unavailable or no longer functional, such as only 4 X-ray machines that are working, and no current MRI scanners that are working.

Even when aid reaches border crossings, delays in distribution and access restrictions can prevent critical supplies from reaching hospitals quickly enough. The result is a system where doctors are often forced to make impossible choices about which patients receive treatment first.

Healthcare workers: the burden they hold

Perhaps the most overlooked aspect of the crisis is the pressure placed upon medical personnel themselves.

Doctors, nurses, paramedics, and support staff continue to work under extraordinarily difficult conditions, with 170 specialised doctors killed. Hospitals routinely operate beyond capacity, while staff shortages have become increasingly severe. Hundreds of attacks affecting healthcare facilities since October 2023, and have repeatedly warned that health workers are operating in unsafe and unsustainable conditions.

The loss of experienced medical professionals has further weakened the system. Every doctor lost represents years of specialist training that cannot easily be replaced. In a territory where specialist medical expertise was already limited before the war, these losses have long-term consequences for patient care.

Meanwhile, international medical teams often face significant obstacles in entering Gaza, reducing the ability of external specialists to support local healthcare providers.

Why healthcare access should be separated from politics

There is no shortage of disagreement regarding the broader conflict. Political leaders, governments, and armed groups continue to debate security arrangements, governance, and ceasefire terms.

Medical care, however, should not be contingent upon the outcome of those negotiations.

Regardless of political position, there is broad international agreement that civilians require access to healthcare. International humanitarian law places particular emphasis on protecting medical facilities, medical personnel, and patients during armed conflict.

When a child requires cancer treatment, when a trauma patient requires surgery, or when a pregnant woman needs emergency care, those needs do not disappear because political negotiations remain unresolved.

The healthcare crisis, therefore, requires a response that is practical rather than ideological. Discussions about long-term political solutions are important, but they cannot become an excuse for delaying urgent humanitarian action.

A practical way forward

The international community should focus on creating a robust, internationally monitored medical access mechanism for Gaza.

Such a mechanism would prioritise:

• Safe and sustained entry of medicines and medical supplies.
• Delivery of fuel required to keep hospitals operational.
• Access for international specialist medical teams.
• Entry of diagnostic and surgical equipment.
• Medical evacuations for patients requiring treatment unavailable in Gaza.
• Protection of healthcare facilities and personnel.

These measures would not resolve the wider conflict. They would not address every political dispute surrounding Gaza’s future. However, they would save lives immediately.

International monitoring could also help reassure all parties that humanitarian assistance is reaching its intended civilian recipients while maintaining transparency and accountability.

The human cost of inaction

Behind every statistic is a person waiting for treatment.

A patient needing surgery. A child requiring specialist care. A doctor attempting to treat dozens of casualties with inadequate resources. A family hoping their loved one can be evacuated before it is too late.

For Gaza’s 2 million-plus residents, the healthcare crisis is not a future concern—it is a daily reality. The political future of Gaza remains uncertain. The immediate need for healthcare does not.

If there is one area where the international community should be able to find common ground, it is ensuring that civilians can access medical treatment. Lives depend on it.

______________________________________________________

For background: The Board of Peace: Challenged by Phase Two Gaza Reconstruction?