Gaza hospitals face imminent shutdown

Several main Gaza hospitals face the prospect of an immediate shutdown due to an energy crisis that has lasted for months, the Gaza Health Ministry said Monday.

“Shifa Hospital, Kamal Adwan hospital, the European Gaza Hospital, and Rantisi Hospital could stop offering services because they are about to run out of fuel,” said Ashraf al-Qidra, spokesperson for the ministry. “The current situation is the worst since the Ministry of Health was created in the Gaza Strip,” he added.

The Gaza Strip receives energy from Egypt and Israel, in addition to one local power plant, but due to power shortages, hospitals are forced to rely on private generators. Recent months have seen a crisis which is now coming to a head, the Palestinian Ma’an news agency reported.

In addition to the energy crisis, the hospitals face many other challenges, including damages incurred during last summer’s war, medicine shortages and staff strikes.

A large portion of Gaza’s hospitals and health centers were damaged during Operation Protection Edge, with 17 out of 32 hospitals and 50 out of 97 primary health centers experiencing some kind of damage, according to UN reports.

In addition, the World Health Organization reported a chronic shortage of medical supplies and drugs in Gaza.

Hospital workers also went on strike recently in protest of the government’s failure to pay their salaries. Hamas had been the one to pay the wages in the past, but after a unity government was formed with the Palestinian Authority last year, the factions have been quarreling over responsibility for the issue, according to Ma’an.