Gaza healthcare nears collapse amid deadly aid chaos

Israeli evacuation orders now cover most of Gaza, displacing millions and leaving few safe zones.

Gaza’s health system is at breaking point, overwhelmed repeatedly by scores of people killed or injured near aid distribution sites, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday.

“We are walking the fine grey line between operational capacity and full disaster every day,” said Dr. Thanos Gargavanis, WHO trauma surgeon and emergency officer, speaking from the enclave.

The veteran UN medic’s comments came amid fresh reports Tuesday morning that more Palestinians had been killed while trying to access food, this time near an aid distribution site in Khan Younis, southern Gaza.

The mass casualty event left “hundreds of casualties, completely overwhelming Nasser Medical Complex” in Khan Younis, said WHO’s Representative in the occupied Palestinian territory, Dr. Rik Peeperkorn.

No-go zone

Across Gaza, health services are “barely available” and difficult to access, Dr. Peeperkorn said, since more than 80 per cent of Gaza’s territory is under evacuation orders.

“The shrinking humanitarian space makes every health activity more difficult than the previous day,” Dr. Gargavanis added.

Nasser Medical Complex is the largest referral hospital in Gaza and the only remaining main hospital in Khan Younis. It is located within the evacuation zone announced by the Israeli military on 12 June.

The nearby Al-Amal Hospital — operated by the Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) — continues to provide services to existing patients but cannot admit new ones due to ongoing military operations.

“It is what we call a completely minimally functional hospital,” Dr. Peeperkorn said.

Deadly impact of fuel shortages

Only 17 of Gaza’s 36 hospitals are currently partially functional. Medical supplies are critically low, and no fuel has entered the Strip for more than 100 days.

The latest mass casualty event is just one in a string involving Gazans trying to access aid amid ongoing severe restrictions on humanitarian access imposed by Israel.

On Monday, more than 200 patients arrived at the Red Cross Field Hospital in Al-Mawasi — the highest number ever received by the facility in a single mass casualty incident. Of those, 28 patients were reportedly declared dead, WHO’s Dr. Peeperkorn said.

Just one day earlier, on 15 June, the same hospital received at least 170 patients, who reportedly had been trying to reach a food distribution site.

“The recent food distribution initiatives by non-UN actors result in mass casualty incidents every time,” said Dr. Gargavanis.

Private aid plan fallout

Since late May, the UN and humanitarian partners have been sidelined in Gaza under a new aid distribution model backed by Israel and the United States. The model, operated under the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), relies on private military contractors.

The WHO trauma surgeon highlighted a “constant correlation” between the locations of food distribution spots and mass casualty incidents in Rafah, Khan Younis, and along the Netzarim corridor.

Asked about the types of injuries sustained and who is responsible, Dr. Gargavanis emphasized that WHO is not a forensic agency.

“We're not in a position to clearly identify from the nature of the injury who caused it,” he said. “What we can say is that we’re seeing gunshot wound injuries, with very few cases of shrapnel injuries.”

The UN has repeatedly warned that the new aid distribution system fails to meet humanitarian principles of humanity, impartiality, independence, and neutrality. The global body has also called for all aid restrictions to be lifted.

Dr. Peeperkorn insisted that WHO must be allowed to move supplies into Gaza “via all possible routes” to prevent further collapse of medical services. He said 33 WHO trucks are waiting at Al Arish in Egypt for entry approval, with another 15 on standby in the occupied West Bank. - UN News