Medicine:Timeline of the Gaza Strip healthcare collapse

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Injured people after an airstrike, Indonesia Hospital

During the Israel-Hamas war, the healthcare system of Gaza collapsed. The healthcare collapse was part of a broader humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip caused by the war.

The hospitals faced a lack of fuel and relied on backup generators for the first two weeks of the war. By 23 October, Gaza hospitals began shutting down as they ran out of fuel, starting with the Indonesia Hospital. When hospitals lost power completely, multiple premature babies in NICUs died.

Numerous medical staffers were killed by Israeli airstrikes, and ambulances, health institutions, medical headquarters, and multiple hospitals were destroyed. The Medecins Sans Frontieres said scores of ambulances and medical facilities were damaged or destroyed. By late-October, the Gaza Health Ministry stated the healthcare system had "totally collapsed".

October 2023

12 October

• Following the shutdown of the Gaza Strip power station the previous day, it was reported that hospitals in Gaza would soon run out of available fuel to power generators.

14 October

• The Diagnostic Cancer Treatment Centre of the Al-Ahli Arab Hospital was partially destroyed by Israeli rocket fire.
• Israel ordered the evacuation of 22 hospitals in northern Gaza.

15 October

• WHO stated four hospitals were no longer functioning after being targeted by Israeli airstrikes.
• Healthcare professionals warned if hospital facilities' generators stopped, patients would die when the power was lost.
• WHO described Israel's evacuation order as a "death sentence" for the sick and wounded.
• Doctors across northern Gaza stated they were unable to follow Israel's evacuation order, since their patients, including newborns in the ICU, would die.

16 October

• Doctors Without Borders president Christos Christou wrote that the situation in Gaza was "horrific and catastrophic… No electricity, no medical supplies. Surgeons in Al-Shifa hospital are now operating without painkillers."

17 October

• A widely condemned explosion in the al-Ahli courtyard resulted in significant fatalities.

18 October

Medic carrying wounded Palestinian child in Gaza

• Doctors Without Borders stated severely wounded patients would die as the health system collapsed.

19 October

• The Ministry of Health asked for donations of liters of fuels to continue powering hospital generators.
• Gaza's only cancer hospital announced it had "perilously low" levels of remaining fuel.
• Doctors stated pediatric patients had developed gastroenteritis infections due to the lack of clean water.
• Airstrikes hit the area around al-Quds Hospital.
• The Red Cross stated Gaza's entire health system was "on its knees".

20 October

• Doctors Without Borders stated thousands of people were at risk of dying "within hours" because it was "impossible" to give them medical attention.
• Doctors at al-Quds Hospital and the Palestine Red Crescent reported they received a call from the Israeli army to evacuate the hospital or "bear the consequences".

21 October

• Medical Aid for Palestinians and UNICEF issued an "urgent warning" that 130 premature babies would die if fuel did not reach Gaza hospitals soon.

22 October

• The UN Population Fund stated there were 50,000 pregnant women in Gaza.
• A UN statement signed by UNDP, UNFPA, UNICEF, WFP and WHO stated deaths could soon "skyrocket" from disease and "lack of healthcare".

23 October

• On 23 October, the Indonesia Hospital ran out of fuel and completely lost power.
• A Health Ministry spokesman announced the healthcare system had "totally collapsed", with 65 medics killed, 25 ambulances destroyed, and many hospitals soon shutting down due to lack of fuel.
• The World Health Organization warned 46 of Gaza's 72 healthcare facilities had stopped functioning.

25 October

• Dr. Ashraf al-Qudra, of the Health Ministry, stated the health system was "completely out of service".
• The Health Ministry stated a total of 7,000 sick and wounded hospital patients were facing death.
• The Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital faced a dialysis crisis, with hundreds sharing only 24 dialysis machines.

27 October

• A Red Cross medical team arrived in Gaza, bringing medical supplies, a war surgery team, and a weapons contamination specialist.
• The Al Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis received a delivery of medical supplies, including antiseptic, injections, and medical mattresses, raising hopes more could be received "in the coming days".

28 October

• A communications blackout meant wounded civilians could not dial emergency services. Ambulances were evenly geographically distributed to provide "faster access to the injured."

29 October

• The Palestinian Red Crescent reported that it had received warnings from Israeli authorities to immediately evacuate al-Quds hospital as it was “going to be bombarded”.
• An Israeli airstrike struck 20 metres (65 feet) from al-Quds hospital.
• Dr. Ghassan Abu Sitta wrote on X that he was increasingly treating patients with "distinctive phosphorus burns."

30 October

• The Turkish-Palestinian Friendship Hospital was severely damaged by an Israeli airstrike.
• WHO announced it could no longer resupply al-Shifa and al-Quds hospitals due to the high levels of risk.

31 October

• The Health Ministry announced the generators at two key Gaza hospitals were hours from shutting down.

November 2023

1 November

• The director of the Turkish-Palestinian Friendship Hospital stated Gaza's only cancer hospital was "completely out of service" after it ran out of fuel to power its generator.
• The Gaza Health Ministry stated the maternity ward at the Al-Helou International Hospital was hit by an Israeli bombardment.

2 November

• The Indonesia Hospital announced its main generator was no longer operational.

3 November

• The Health Ministry stated 12 cancer patients had died after the Turkish Hospital shut down.
• The Ministry stated 800 critically wounded patients needed to leave Gaza to receive care, stating many critically wounded patients had died in the past several days due to the collapsed healthcare system.
• A medical convoy in front of al-Shifa hospital was destroyed by an Israeli drone missile.
• Al-Quds and Indonesia Hospital were both hit by airstrikes.

4 November

• The generators at Kamal Adwan Hospital shut down.
• The entrance of the al-Nasser Children's Hospital was hit by an Israeli strike.

5 November

• The Gaza health system was failing as a result of the Israeli blockade.
• Nearly half of all hospitals were out of service due to shortages of fuel and power, and amputations and C-sections were performed without anesthetic due to shortages of medical supplies.

6 November

• Israel bombed al-Shifa hospital's solar panels.

8 November

• Italy announced it was sending a hospital ship to the coast of Gaza.
• Al-Quds hospital stated Israel had destroyed all roads leading to the hospital.
• Al-Quds completely ran out of fuel and shut down most services.

9 November

• On 9 November, the Gaza government media office stated Israel had bombed eight hospitals in the past three days.
• Health Minister Fahrettin Koca announced Turkey was prepared to receive Gaza's pediatric cancer patients.

10 November

• The International Red Cross stated Gaza's healthcare system had "reached a point of no return."
• Israeli tanks surrounded four hospitals, al-Rantisi Hospital, al-Nasr Hospital, and the eye and mental health hospitals, from all directions.
• The Nasser Rantissi paediatric cancer hospital caught on fire after being hit by an Israeli airstrike and began evacuations.
• At least three hospitals were hit by Israeli airstrikes, resulting in multiple casualties. This lead to the director of the Al-Shifa hospital to state, "Israel is now launching a war on Gaza City hospitals."
• The Interior Ministry stated Al-Shifa Hospital was bombed five times in 24 hours.
• The Palestinian Red Crescent stated Israeli snipers opened fire on children at al-Quds hospital, killing one and wounding 28.
• The Ministry of Health stated Israel cut off Indonesia Hospital's electricity, water, and communication.

11 November

	Doctors Without Borders	Twitter
	@MSF_canada

"We're on the fourth floor, there's a sniper who attacked four patients inside the hospital. One of them has a gunshot wound directly in his neck, and he is a quadriplegic [patient], and the other one [was shot] in the abdomen."

November 11, 2023

• Ghassan Abu-Sittah, a British doctor in Gaza, stated the injured were no longer able to receive treatment for their wounds, as doctors were only able to stabilize patients.
• Doctors Without Borders reported a "dramatic intensification" of Israeli attacks on Al-Shifa hospital.
  • Al-Shifa lost power, staff were killed by snipers, and the hospital was shelled and caught fire.
  • Families who tried to leave the hospital complex were shot and killed.
  • Ashraf al-Qudra, a doctor at al-Shifa, stated the hospital was completely out of service, as the Israeli army shot "everything that moves."
  • Physicians for Human Rights stated two premature babies had died at al-Shifa due to the lack of electricity.
  • IDF spokesman Daniel Hagari stated the army would help evacuate babies from al-Shifa Hospital, but a Gaza Health Ministry spokesman stated Israel had not provided "any mechanism to get the babies out to a safer hospital."
  • Robert Mardini, director general of the Red Cross, described the situation at al-Shifa as "unbearably desperate."
• The Palestinian Red Crescent reported intense shooting and dehydrated babies at al-Quds.

12 November

• The director general of al-Shifa stated the lives of 650 patients were in danger at al-Shifa Hospital due to the "catastrophic situation."
  • The deputy health minister in Gaza stated Israel had destroyed al-Shifa's cardiac ward.
  • The IDF released a video recording of soldiers leaving 300 liters of fuel outside Al-Shifa.
    • The director of al-Shifa stated 300 liters would not power the hospital for even 30 minutes.
• Mai al-Kaila, the Palestinian Minister of Health, stated the Israeli army was not evacuating patients, but rather "forcibly evicting the wounded and patients onto the streets, leaving them to face inevitable death."
• A surgeon at Al-Ahli hospital stated they had run out of blood for transfusions.
• The Red Crescent stated al-Quds was completely out of service.
• The director of the Nasr Hospital stated it had been evacuated under threat of Israeli weapons and tanks.
• Two of Gaza's main hospitals, Al-Shifa and Al-Quds, closed down.

13 November

• Kamal Adwan Hospital ran out of fuel.
• Doctors Without Borders released a statement describing the situation at Al-Shifa Hospital, stating they had no food, water, or electricity, and that there was a sniper attacking patients. The statement stated, "The situation is very bad, it is inhuman."
• The al-Amal Hospital's only generator shut down.
• Tom Potokar, chief surgeon with the Red Cross, described the situation in southern Gaza as "just relentless."

14 November

• Israeli tanks surrounded Al Helou Hospital in Gaza City, with the hospital director stating it was a "maternity hospital only.”
• Israel launched a raid on al-Shifa Hospital, where thousands, including three dozen premature babies, were still sheltering.
  • Doctors reported 40 patients at al-Shifa died.
• Fighting near Al-Quds Hospital halted evacuation efforts.

15 November

• Israel raided the al-Shifa hospital.
  • A journalist on the scene stated, it was "a nightmare that cannot be imagined," and that Israel had targeted the hospitals generators and communications unit, severing contact with the outside world.
  • John Kirby, spokesperson for the U.S. National Security Council, claimed Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad had "stored weapons" in the hospital. These claims were disputed.
  • An al-Shifa employee interviewed by Al Jazeera stated Israel had not brought any aid or supplies, but had "detained and brutally assaulted" men who were sheltering at the hospital.

16 November

• Rik Peeperkorn, a World Health Organization representative, stated al-Shifa hospital had no oxygen, power, or water.
  • The hospital director stated bodies were actively decomposing, patients' wounds were full of maggots, and "The smell of death is everywhere."
  • A contact within the hospital interviewed by BBC said that Israeli soldiers had supplied water to elderly patients.
  • According to The Wall Street Journal, an Israeli military official stated that aid was left at the hospital's front gate and that the hospital's staff was informed of its availability.
• The Indonesia Hospital completely shut down, leaving 45 patients in need of surgery.

17 November

• The Palestinian Red Crescent stated its emergency medical teams were trapped at Al-Ahli Hospital.
• Staff at Al-Shifa stated 50 patients, including infants, had died due to power and oxygen shortages.
• The director of Al-Shifa stated Israel's claim to provide incubators to premature babies was false.

18 November

• An evacuation of al-Shifa began.
  • Ismail al-Thawabta, a spokesperson for the Palestinian media office, stated patients moved to other facilities were going to die. ActionAid called it a death sentence.
  • The hospital stated six doctors would remain behind with 120 patients too sick to be transferred.
  • The IDF released images of military trucks unloading supplies outside Al-Shifa hospital. According to the military, supplies included 6,000 liters of water and 2,300 kg of food.
  • A humanitarian team from the World Health Organization visited al-Shifa and found a lack of food, water, or medicine, with signs of gunfire and a mass grave.
  • The director of al-Shifa said people were only given one hour to evacuate, stating, "we were forced to leave at gunpoint."
  • WHO stated 25 health workers and 291 patients, including 32 babies remained at al-Shifa.
• Two people were killed while traveling in a clearly identified Doctors Without Borders evacuation convoy in Gaza City. Doctors Without Borders termed it a "deliberate attack."

19 November

• The premature babies at al-Shifa were evacuated to southern Gaza, where they were planned to be moved to Egypt the following day.
• The World Health Organization stated it was planning missions to transport the remaining al-Shifa patients to Nasser Medical Complex and European Gaza Hospital in the next 2-3 days.

20 November

• Israel launched an offensive on Indonesia Hospital with an airstrike that reportedly killed 12 people.
  • Following the strike, Israeli tanks surrounded the hospital.
  • Staff at the hospital reported Israeli soldiers shooting inside the hospital indiscriminately.
  • Many sheltered at the hospital, as it was the last functioning one in northern Gaza.
  • The Gaza Ministry of Health stated 200 patients were evacuated from the hospital, while an estimated 500 patients remained.

21 November

• The World Health Organization stated three hospitals in northern Gaza would be evacuated, meaning there would be no functioning hospitals left in northern Gaza.
• Four doctors were reported killed after Israel bombed al-Awda Hospital.
• The Government of Jordan reported Israel had ordered their field hospital to be evacuated and stated they would not comply.

22 November

• The Palestinian Red Crescent stated fourteen ambulances had arrived at al-Shifa to evacuate the hospital's remaining patients.
• The Kamal Adwan hospital stated Israeli bombings increased around the hospital.

23 November

• Four patients died in the transfer from northern Gaza to the Turkish-Palestinian Friendship Hospital.
• The Red Cross reported its staff were shot at while providing humanitarian support.
• The Gaza Health Ministry announced it would cease coordination with the WHO on patient evacuations following the Israeli arrest of Palestinian doctors.
• Staff at the Indonesia Hospital were reportedly ordered by the IDF to evacuate.
• The head of the Medical Emergency Rescue Committee stated patients and staff at the Indonesia Hospital were evacuated to the European Hospital in Khan Younis.

24 November

• Medical workers reported dogs were eating the corpses of unburied people in the streets.
• Hospitals in northern Gaza, including al-Ahli Arab Hospital, were evacuated by the World Health Organization and the Red Cross.

25 November

• The director general of the Ministry of Health stated the Israeli military shot at medical teams during the temporary ceasefire in effect.
• UNOCHA stated only four small hospitals in northern Gaza and eight health facilities in southern Gaza were still functioning.

26 November

• The conditions for remaining patients at al-Shifa were reportedly dire.

27 November

• The Ministry of Health reported a volunteer effort at al-Shifa hospital sought to restart the dialysis department.

28 November

• The al-Shifa dialysis unit was reportedly reopened and receiving patients.
• A French warship was dispatched as a temporary hospital.

30 November

• WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus stated the health needs of Gaza had increased dramatically, though only one-third of its health facilities were functioning.
• The Health Ministry stated hundreds needed to be evacuated from Gaza to receive medical care.
• Italy and the United Arab Emirates stated they were considering establishing a field hospital in Gaza.

December 2023

1 December

• Hospitals reported overcrowding, with doctors forced to treat patients on the floor.
• A spokesman for the Gaza crossing authority stated the Rafah crossing remained opened for the evacuation of the sick and wounded.
• Doctors Without Borders stated al-Awda hospital had been damaged in an Israeli bombing.

2 December

	Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus	Twitter
	@DrTedros

Patients were receiving care on the floor, screaming in pain. These conditions are beyond inadequate - unimaginable for the provision of health care. I cannot find words strong enough to express our concern over what we’re witnessing.

December 2, 2023

• Saudi Arabia donated six ambulances to the Palestinian Red Crescent.

3 December

• James Elder, a spokesman for UNICEF described Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis as a "death zone."
• The IDF bombed the Kamal Adwan hospital, killing at least four people.
• Two Red Crescent paramedics were wounded by gunfire from the Israeli military.

4 December

• Doctors Without Borders stated hospitals in southern Gaza were overflowing with wounded patients.

5 December

• Attacks in the vicinity of Kamal Adwan hospital were reported.
• Doctors at the Al-Aqsa Hospital stated they could not handle the overflow of patients they were experiencing.

6 December

• Doctors Without Borders stated fuel and medical supplies at al-Aqsa hospital were critically low.
• Doctors in south Gaza reported a lack of beds and supplies.

7 December

• The Palestinian Red Crescent stated 60 percent of the wounded in Gaza required urgent medical treatment abroad, and that ambulance service in northern Gaza had completely ceased.
• The Gaza Health Ministry stated only basic first aid was being delivered at Al-Shifa Hospital.
• WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus stated fighting in southern Gaza was making it increasingly difficult to run health operations.

8 December

• An estimated 286 health workers in Gaza had been killed by Israel.

9 December

• WHO stated two health staff had been shot and killed by the IDF at Al Awda Hospital, besieged since 5 December.
• The director of the European Hospital stated the situation was catastrophic, with paramedics wounded in Israeli airstrikes.

10 December

• WHO adopted a resolution to protect healthcare in Gaza, which director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus described as "almost impossible in the current circumstances."
• Doctors Without Borders stated that the Israeli army had forced them to evacuate the Martyrs and Beni Shueila clinics, and that healthcare had completely collapsed.
• The Ministry of Health stated 50,000 people had been wounded since the start of the conflict.

11 December

• MSF stated one of its doctors inside Al Awda Hospital had been injured by an Israeli sniper.
• The director of Kamal Adwan Hospital stated Israel had killed two mothers and their newborn babies when Israel targeted its maternity ward. The UN confirmed the killings.

12 December

• WHO pleaded with the Israeli army not to destroy hospitals in southern Gaza.
• Doctors Without Borders said healthcare conditions in Gaza were akin to conditions during World War I.
• Israel raided the Kamal Adwan Hospital.
  • In response, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus stated WHO was extremely worried for Kamal Adwan's medical staff.
• Doctors at Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis described a lack of supplies and barely any medical functionality.

13 December

• The head of pediatrics at Kamal Adwan stated the IDF had ordered all men and boys above age sixteen to leave the hospital to be searched.
  • 70 medical staffers were arrested and taken to an unknown location.
• Jacobin reported 240 people were trapped at al-Awda, surrounded by Israeli snipers, without clean water and surviving on one meal per day of bread or rice.

14 December

• A staffer at the al-Awda hospital reported Israeli snipers had shot at a pregnant civilian at the hospital.
  • A hospital monitoring manager stated a nurse had been killed by an Israeli sniper on the hospital's fourth floor through the window.
  • Renzo Fricke, an official at Doctors Without Borders, stated, "Reports coming out of Al-Awda hospital are harrowing and we are gravely worried for safety of patients and staff inside".
  • The Gaza Health Ministry stated their fear that after the Israeli raid of Kamal Adwan was complete, al-Awda would be their next target.
• The Ministry of Health reported 2,500 internally displaced persons from Kamal Adwan had been forcibly evacuated, and that IDF soldiers had prevented medical staff from continuing support to 12 babies in intensive care and ten emergency department patients, leading to two deaths.

15 December

• Ahmad Shatat, pediatric doctor at the Emirati Hospital in Rafah, stated the number of premature babies born in Gaza had risen sharply due to mothers' lack of proper care and diet.

16 December

• Journalists reported Israeli bulldozers had crushed people sheltering outside Kamal Adwan, with one reporter describing "a terrifying massacre and unspeakable scenes", and stating, "Dozens of displaced, sick and wounded people were buried alive".

17 December

• Following a convoy visit to al-Shifa hospital, the World Health Organization released a statement describing the situation as a "bloodbath" with hundreds of injured patients inside laying on the floor.
• World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus stated patients had evacuated Kamal Adwan hospital, resulting in the deaths of patients, including a nine-year-old.
  • A man stated his 25-year-old son had been buried alive by IDF bulldozers at Kamal Adwan.
  • The Kamal Adwan Hospital was reported destroyed and in rubble.
• A tank shell killed children when it hit the pediatric ward at the Nasser Medical Complex.

18 December

• The al-Ahli Arab Hospital was attacked, with displaced people forced out and two doctors arrested.

19 December

• Margaret Harris, a World Health Organization spokesperson, said only 30% of Gaza's 20,000 pre-conflict health staff were still working, stating, "One of my colleagues described people lying on the floor in severe pain, in agony, but they weren't asking for pain relief. They were asking for water. It's beyond belief that the world is allowing this to continue."
• Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus stated the UN had "found deeply concerning conditions" at Nasser Medical Complex following the 17 December attack on the hospital's pediatric unit.
• Doctors Without Borders reported Israeli troops seized Al-Awda Hospital, with troops stripping, bounding, and interrogating all men and boys over the age of sixteen.
• The al-Ahli Hospital director stated Israeli troops arrested doctors, patients, and medical staff, partially destroyed the building's grounds, leaving the hospital unable to receive patients. Four people from the 18 December attacks on the hospital died.
• Doctors Without Borders stated, "Doctors are stepping over bodies of dead children to treat other children who will die anyway. The lucky few that survive have life-changing injuries. Many injured people suffer from extreme burns, major fractures that won’t heal properly and may go on to require amputations."

20 December

• The Palestinian Red Crescent Society stated Israeli troops had besieged its northern Gaza ambulance centre.
  • The Red Crescent reported emergency and rescue teams were unable to reach the wounded.
• WHO secretary-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus reported the Al-Ahli Arab Hospital was out of service, stating, "That has left north Gaza with no functional hospital. Only four hospitals operate at a minimum level, providing very limited care".
• The Kuwaiti Hospital was overcrowded by large numbers of wounded patients following an airstrike in Rafah.

21 December

• Wounded people unable to call ambulances due to communications blackouts reported biking and taking donkey carts to hospitals, while ambulance drivers stated they simply followed plumes of smoke or the sound of explosions.
• The Palestinian Red Crescent stated their ambulance centre was still under siege.
  • The Red Crescent reported the IDF had raided the ambulance centre.
• A nurse was reportedly killed by a sniper at al-Awda hospital, with people inside left in a "state of horror".
• The director general of the Gaza Health Ministry was wounded in an airstrike on his home.
• The closure of al-Ahli Hospital meant there were no functional hospitals remaining in northern Gaza.

22 December

• Intense shelling was reported near al-Amal Hospital in Khan Younis.
• The Palestinian Red Crescent stated Israel had destroyed all ambulance vehicles at its besieged centre, and that 47 men were stripped naked, beaten, and tortured.

23 December

• The Palestinian Red Crescent stated the Israeli army was detaining eight emergency rescue teams.
• The head of pediatrics at Kamal Adwan Hospital reported the conditions of the IDF siege, stating, "The soldiers dug up the graves this morning and dragged the bodies with bulldozers, then crushed the bodies with the bulldozers. I have never seen such a thing before."

24 December

• The director of the Nasser Medical Complex reported doctors were treating wounds caused by internationally prohibited weapons.

25 December

• The Government Media Office stated 23 hospitals were out of service, that the health system was in the "final stage" of collapse, and that 9,000 people had died due to a lack of medical services.
• The Gaza Health Ministry reported 800,000 people in northern Gaza had no access to healthcare.

26 December

• The Palestinian Red Crescent Society headquarters in Khan Younis sustained serious damage after being hit by Israeli bombing. Several staff were injured.
  • The Red Crescent lost contact with its emergency teams due to a communications blackout.
• Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus stated the healthcare system was under "unbearable strain", and that patients at Al-Aqsa Hospital would die while waiting for treatment.
• UNICEF representative Rik Peeperkorn expressed fears that Nasser Medical Complex would be imperiled as the IDF moved its fighting into Khan Younis.

27 December

• Israeli army attacks were reported in the vicinity of El-Amal City Hospital in Khan Younis.
• Mai al-Kaila stated only eight hospitals in southern Gaza were "partially" functioning.
• WHO stated it had delivered supplies to Al-Shifa and El-Amal Hospitals.

28 December

• The Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis reported it was operating without 80 percent of its staff.
• The Palestinian Red Crescent condemned recent attacks in the vicinity of El-Amal Hospital, stating, "The occupations intensification in targeting the vicinity of al-Amal Hospital during the past few days may be considered a prelude to targeting it directly."
  • The Palestinian Red Crescent and the Egyptian Red Crescent Society announced they were setting up 300 tents to house the displaced families of medical, ambulance and relief staff.
• The director of operations of the Gaza Health Ministry stated 1.6 million people in Rafah were in need of medical care and that international intervention was needed.

29 December

• The Gaza Government Media office stated 800,000 residents in northern Gaza had no access to hospitals, and that 7,000 people remained buried beneath rubble.
• The UN called the health system in Gaza "shattered" and said patients were just "waiting to die".

30 December

• The World Health Organization stated 13 out of 36 Gaza hospitals were partially functional.
• The Gaza Health Ministry stated they had reopened Al Arabi Hospital, Patient Friend’s Benevolent Society, Assahaba Medical Complex, and Al Helou International Hospital.
• An airstrike near European Hospital in Khan Younis killed five people.
• UNICEF stated it had delivered 600,000 childhood vaccine doses.

January 2024

1 January

• Mai al-Kaila stated only nine hospitals were still operating in Gaza.

2 January

• The Palestinian Red Crescent Society headquarters was bombed, killing five including a baby.
  • Gemma Connell, an UNOCHA representative, stated, "The world should be absolutely horrified. The world should be absolutely outraged a child was killed here today... the world should be ashamed."
• Tedros Ghebreyesus condemned Israel's attack on the al-Amal Hospital, stating, "Today’s bombings are unconscionable Gaza’s health system is already on its knees, with health and aid workers continuously stymied in their efforts to save lives due to the hostilities."

3 January

• The Palestine Red Crescent Society reported Israeli attacks near the al-Amal Hospital were intensifying.

4 January

• The Palestine Red Crescent Society stated Israel bombed the home of the Central Gaza Ambulance Center director.
  • The PRCS reported another attack on the al-Amal hospital, sending an appeal to the international community, Red Cross, and UN to protect its staff and patients. One person was killed in the shelling.
• Medical Aid for Palestinians and the International Rescue Committee released a joint statement stating Gaza's health system was "on the brink of catastrophic collapse".
• Doctors Without Borders stated Israeli bombing near Al-Aqsa hospital was creating dangerous conditions.
  • An MSF doctor stated, "We had to move our wound-dressing activities from the tent in the hospital courtyard to inside the premises to protect staff and patients. From the hospital, we can hear the bombing in the neighborhoods".

5 January

• Israeli shelling was reported near the al-Nasr Hospital.
• The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies condemned Israel's attacks on El Amal Hospital and the Palestinian Red Crescent headquarters.
  • A total of seven people were killed and eleven wounded.
• Doctors Without Borders set up a field hospital in Rafah, stating, "Staff are literally kneeling in blood on the floor to try to save the life of a person, even intubating on the floor."

6 January

• A doctor at Al-Aqsa Hospital reported intense fighting getting close to the hospital, stating his fear the IDF would "do there what they did at Shifa and the Indonesian hospital".
• A displaced man was shot in the chest by an Israeli sniper in front of El Amal Hospital.
• The Gaza Health Ministry reported the operating rooms at al-Shifa hospital had reopened.

7 January

• Gaza Media Office stated there were 6,000 wounded people waiting to be approved to receive treatment in Egypt.
• The Palestine Red Crescent Society reported they were using torches to treat wounded people.
• Medical Aid for Palestinians and the International Rescue Committee were forced to evacuate the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, with MAP stating, "The Israeli military has dropped leaflets designating areas surrounding the hospital as a 'red zone.'"
  • The Gaza Health Ministry stated Israeli drones were shooting at "anything that moves", and were aiming to disable the hospital.

8 January

• Drones reportedly opened fire at people near Al-Aqsa Hospital.
  • A doctor at Al-Aqsa reported, "I had to deal with a child with multiple gunshots in his chest and one in the abdomen alone. I felt so bad because normally this child could have been saved. Finally we heard a lot of gunshots around and we had to leave everyone behind. And I literally cried because I didn’t know what to do wondering what will happen to the people there."
  • Displaced people reportedly fled the vicinity of the hospital as fighting neared Al-Aqsa.
  • A Medical Aid for Palestinians doctor at Al-Aqsa Hospital stated, "There were several hundred people being admitted every day... There were scenes I’d never seen before in a hospital, and I’ve been a surgeon for many years and I’ve never seen anything like this."
  • A Doctors Without Borders doctor described the situation at Al -Aqsa as "catastrophic".
• The World Health Organization stated Israel had denied its request to deliver medical supplies, stating, "This marked the fourth denial of a mission to the al-Awda Hospital in Jabalia and Central Drug Store in Gaza City since December 26, leaving five hospitals in northern Gaza without access to life-saving medical supplies and equipment”.
• Doctors Without Borders reported their staff and families, including a five-year-old girl, had been injured by Israeli shelling at an MSF shelter.

9 January

• Doctors Without Borders condemned the prior day's Israeli attack on the MSF shelter, stating the five-year-old girl had died.
• In a social media post, UNRWA called for a ceasefire, stating, "Health system rapidly collapsing".
• The Palestine Red Crescent Society reported it had recovered the bodies of two people from the Maghazi camp.
• World Health Organization coordinator Sean Casey stated, "What we’re seeing is really worrying around a lot of the hospitals and an intensification of hostilities, very close to the European Gaza Hospital. We are seeing the health system collapse at a very rapid pace."
• A nurse at Al-Aqsa stated most doctors had fled and patients arriving would not likely receive treatment.

10 January

• A doctor with Medical Aid for Palestinians stated Israeli attacks were making Al-Aqsa Hospital unusable, stating, "I think it’s looking extremely likely that Al-Aqsa will become completely disabled as a healthcare facility".
  • Journalist Hind Khoudary visited Al-Aqsa Hospital, stating, "The hospital is crowded, it was chaos. You can’t imagine the amount of blood I saw."
  • At least forty were killed in an Israel bombing near the Al-Aqsa entrance.
• The Palestinian Red Crescent reported an Israeli airstrike killed four paramedics and two patients in an ambulance, leading WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus to state he was "appalled" by the attack.
  • The Red Crescent stated eleven of its paramedics had been killed by Israel since 7 October.
• WHO stated it had cancelled an aid mission to northern Gaza for the sixth time.
• In a social media post, UN humanitarian relief chief Martin Griffiths stated, "The health sector in Gaza is being slowly choked off as hospitals continue to come under fire."
• Red Cross director Robert Mardini stated all hospitals were suffering from the total collapse of the healthcare system, stating it was "unacceptable and dangerous".
• The Gaza Health Ministry stated it was investigating injuries caused by internationally banned weapons and warned 800,000 people in northern Gaza had been "sentenced to death" due to the collapse of the healthcare system.
• Generators at the International Medical Corps’ field hospital in Rafah were destroyed.

11 January

• A former-Gaza Health Ministry official in Rafah stated he had converted his store into a makeshift medical clinic to help with the overflow of patients, receiving 30 to 40 patients a day.
• Stephane Dujarric stated three-quarters of Gaza's 77 primary health centres were no longer functioning, stating, "The ongoing hostilities in Deir el-Balah and Khan Younis – coupled with evacuation orders in nearby areas – are putting three hospitals at the risk of closures".
• Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus called on Israel to allow WHO access to northern Gaza, stating, "We have the supplies, the teams and the plans in place. What we don’t have is access."
• UNOCHA reported only fifteen of Gaza's hospitals were still in operation.

12 January

• The Al-Aqsa Hospital experienced a blackout after running out of fuel to power its generators.
  • Newborn babies at were Al-Aqsa at risk due to the blackout.
• The Palestinian Red Crescent reported that a communications blackout was preventing medical workers from reaching injured people.
• A Doctors Without Borders representative stated, "We’re gradually being cornered in a very restrictive perimeter in southern Gaza, in Rafah, with dwindling options to offer critical medical assistance, while the needs are desperately growing".
• Mai al-Kaila stated a shipment of polio vaccines and other medicines had arrived in Gaza.
• The UN stated Israel was blocking medical supplies to northern Gaza.
• The director of Khan Younis’s ambulance center was released from Israeli custody after 51 days.

13 January

• The Palestinian Red Crescent reported 180 women were giving birth per day in "inhumane conditions".
• The Red Crescent established mobile clinics in Rafah and Khan Younis to help with the overflow of patients in hospitals.
• The Gaza Health Ministry reported only six ambulances were operating in Gaza.
• Patients attempting to flee Al-Aqsa Hospital faced challenges evacuating due to Israel forces stationed a few hundred metres away.
  • A doctor at Al-Aqsa Hospital reported the challenges facing their premature babies during the blackout, stating doctors were trying to "find some blankets for the children and babies. They suffer from malnutrition. They can easily get sick, even die, God forbid.”
  • Military attacks were conducted on the hospital.

14 January

• The Palestine Red Crescent reported it had received 46 aid trucks of food, water, relief aid, and medical supplies.
  • The Red Crescent announced it had resumed emergency medical services in Gaza City.
• Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus called for the protection of Gaza's remaining hospitals.
• The Red Cross Secretary-General Jagan Chapagain wrote, "Civilian population in Gaza have suffered enough, and healthcare is one of the last remaining beacons of hope. It’s a humanitarian and moral imperative to ensure the people of Gaza can access health care."

15 January

• UNRWA reported only six out of its 22 health facilities remained operational in Gaza.
• The Palestine Red Crescent Society stated it had resumed its 101 emergency call system.
• WHO stated Al-Aqsa was operating with only 10 percent of its staff, while Nasser Medical Complex was overflowing with double past its capacity.
• Dr. Mads Gilbert stated, "This is a systematic man-made disaster. This is planned and executed by the Israeli government with the full support from the US. It’s the worst man-made medical disaster in modern history."

16 January

• The Palestinian Red Crescent reported it had received 25 aid trucks from the Egyptian Red Crescent.
• Displaced peoples fled the Nasser Medical Complex as Israeli shelling approached.
• Medics in Khan Younis and Gaza City were struggling to reach wounded people due to intensive Israeli bombardment, meaning people remained trapped under rubble.
• Shelling from a nearby attack damaged the al-Amal hospital and created a "state of panic".
• The World Health Organization reported a rise in Hepatitis A cases in Gaza.
• The Health Ministry reported 350,000 chronically ill patients were deprived of medication.
• UNOCHA reported, "Lack of fuel for water, sanitation and hygiene increases risks of health and environmental hazards," while "Lack of medicine debilitated the functionality of the six partially functioning hospitals".

17 January

• Doctors Without Borders stated conditions at Nasser Medical Complex were "catastrophic" as displaced people fled nearby heavy Israeli bombardment.
• Amnesty International reported that the six-day communications blackout had put civilians at risk, as rescue services could not reach wounded people.
• Majed al-Ansari stated medical aid had entered the Gaza Strip.
• The Gaza Health Ministry said equipment for blood tests were running low.
• The Jordanian field hospital in Khan Younis was severely damaged by Israeli shelling.

18 January

• A Doctors Without Borders doctor described conditions at Nasser Medical Complex as unbearable, stating, "You’ve got patients who are being operated on the floor. You’ve got patients who are sleeping on the floor. You have staff who are sleeping on the floor because they prefer to sleep in the hospital than to take the risk of going back and forth to their homes, which may or may not still exist."
• The Gaza Health Ministry stated the medical aid received only covered 30 percent of need.
• The Palestinian Red Crescent reported it had received a total of 5,939 trucks of aid and 88 ambulances since the war began.
• Doctors confirmed the spread of Hepatitis C in Rafah amongst displaced people.
• A World Health Organization representative stated, "I’ve seen children full of shrapnel dying on the floor because there are not the supplies in the emergency department, and the healthcare workers… to care for them".
• Salt was reportedly being put in wounds to be used as a disinfectant.
• Only fifteen of Gaza's hospital's remained partially operational, with a WHO representative stating, "Every time I went to the hospitals, I saw evidence, again and again, of the simultaneous humanitarian catastrophe that’s unfolding".

19 January

• Jordan stated Israel had again targeted its field hospital, shooting inside at sheltering staff.
• A Doctors Without Borders doctor stated, "Our impact is very, very low because there are almost two million in people of need of health care. If you compare with the needs that there are, what we are doing is really a drop in the ocean."
• The Palestinian Red Crescent reported they were working to clean and repair Al-Quds Hospital in Gaza City after it sustained damage from Israeli attacks, stating, "The hospital suffered a fire, and a destruction of all its medical equipments and contents."
• As a non-functioning hospital, al-Shifa was reportedly being used as an evacuation center.
• The Red Crescent stated Israeli gunfire wounded displaced people at al-Amal hospital.
• A doctor was forced to amputate his own daughter's leg without anesthesia.
• UNICEF stated, "The situation of pregnant women and newborns in the Gaza Strip is beyond belief, and it demands intensified and immediate actions. The already precarious situation of infant and maternal mortality has worsened as the healthcare system collapses."
• Panic was reported within Nasser Medical Complex as Israeli soldiers neared.
• Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus stated, "The inhumane living conditions – barely any clean water, clean toilets and possibility to keep the surroundings clean – will enable Hepatitis A to spread further and highlight how explosively dangerous the environment is for the spread of disease."

20 January

• The UN Population Fund reported that staff in the Emirati Hospital were "operating far beyond their capacity with limited space, and women recovering from Cesarean births are discharged within a day".
• The number of hospitals still remaining in operation was reported to be "very limited".
• The Gaza Health Ministry stated, "The aid entering the Gaza Strip does not meet basic health needs. We try to differentiate between cases among the wounded and sick to save who we can."
• Airstrikes in Khan Younis were reportedly concentrated in the areas around Nasser Medical Complex and the Jordanian field hospital.

21 January

• Doctors at Nasser Medical Complex expressed fears their hospital would undergo a siege similar to that at Al-Shifa, with the head of the burns department stating, "I pray to God that this will not happen… I know that Israel has already crossed all red lines… but this is the main hospital in the south of Gaza. I hope that this will not happen. If it happens, I cannot tell you how catastrophic it will be."
• Around 1,000 wounded people were being treated in a French field hospital off the coast of Egypt.

22 January

• Israeli soldiers reportedly continued moving closer to Nasser Hospital.
• The Palestinian Red Crescent reported Nasser was under attack, like all other hospitals in southern Gaza.
• The Red Crescent also reported the IDF was attacking its ambulance center in Khan Younis, preventing paramedics from reaching wounded people.
  • The Red Crescent reported they had lost all contact with their Khan Younis ambulance team.
• The Gaza Health Ministry stated Israeli soldiers had raided the al-Khair hospital and arrested medical staff.

23 January

• Doctors Without Borders reported that the neighborhood blocks surrounding and including Nasser Hospital had received IDF orders to evacuate.
• Martin Griffiths reported medics at Nasser Hospital remained working "while debris is falling on their heads".
• WHO reported it was able to deliver fuel to al-Shifa for the first time since 12 January. UNOCHA reported the hospital had effectively become a shelter for displaced people.
• Paramedics reported they were being prevented from accessing the bodies of the dead afters strikes in Khan Younis.
  • One medical staffer reported difficulties due to the city's destroyed roads and communications blackout.
• A Gaza Health Ministry spokesman stated Nasser Hospital was being isolated by the IDF.
• One person was killed and twelve people were wounded after an IDF attack on Al-Amal hospital.
• Doctors Without Borders staff reported patients at the European and Nasser Hospitals were dying while hospitalized due to unsanitary conditions and lack of staff.
• The Red Crescent stated, "We remain extremely worried regarding the safety of our units in Khan Younis. There has been a systematic targeting of PRCS premises, and of healthcare facilities by Israeli occupation forces since the start of the war."
• Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus stated he was deeply concerned about fighting near Al-Amal Hospital and Israel's raid on Al-Khair Hospital.

24 January

• The Red Crescent reported the IDF had imposed a curfew on Al-Amal Hospital.
• The Gaza Health Ministry reported the Nasser Hospital was isolated, and an estimated 400 diabetic patients were unable to receive insulin treatment.
  • People fleeing Nasser were reportedly killed by Israeli tanks and drones.
• WHO reported seven hospitals in Northern Gaza and seven in Southern Gaza remained operational.
• The Gaza Civil Defense reported thousands had died due to the lack of first aid supplies.
• Three civilians were killed in an airstrike on the Palestine Red Crescent Society headquarters.
• Doctors Without Borders stated it was too dangerous to evacuate thousands of patients from Nasser.

25 January

• The Gaza Health Ministry reported bombing near the Nasser Hospital.
  • Doctors at Nasser reported they were treating patients by flashlight.
• A WHO representative stated, "Many hospitals are not working, there is no specialised staff, there is no medicine, and in many instances it is simply impossible to reach hospitals because roads are damaged".
• The Environment Quality Authority stated two-thirds of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip were suffering from waterborne illness.
• The International Committee of the Red Cross stated, "The cumulative impact on the health system is devastating and urgent action must be taken."
• UNOCHA reported three hospitals and the Red Crescent ambulance center were besieged.
• Omar Abdel-Mannan, the co-founder of Gaza Medic Voices, said the triage system "has well and truly collapsed in Gaza".

26 January

• Doctors Without Borders stated there is "no longer a healthcare system in Gaza".
• The Palestinian Red Crescent reported a third day of bombing around its headquarters.
• A Gaza Health Ministry spokesman stated Israel was deliberately paralyzing Al-Amal and Nasser Hospitals.
• UNRWA reported a rise in hepatitis A in camps for internally displaced persons.
• The gate of Al-Amal Hospital was reportedly hit by Israeli tank fire.
• The Health Ministry stated Nasser hospital was out of food, anaesthetics, and painkillers, stating, "There are 150 health personnel, 350 patients, and hundreds of displaced families in the Nasser Medical Complex in catastrophic conditions of starvation, targeting, and lack of treatment".
• A volunteer with the Medical Emergency Rescue Committee stated, "Everything is limited, including clean water, food and aid trucks, which Israeli forces won’t let enter through Rafah."
• The Red Crescent removed a 1kg (2.2 pounds) piece of shrapnel from a man's shoulder.
• WHO spokesperson Tarik Jasarevic stated, "There is no medicines, and in many instances, it’s simply impossible to reach hospitals."

27 January

• The CEO of the International Federation of Red Cross stated, "Heavy fighting continue to escalate in the surroundings of Palestine Red Crescent Al-Amal Hospital in Khan Yunis, resulting in several injuries and hindering PRCS teams from reaching those in need."
• Snipers outside al-Amal Hospital were reportedly preventing anyone from leaving the hospital.
• A director at Nasser Hospital stated 95 percent of staff had evacuated.
• The Gaza Health Ministry stated that Israeli drone fire had destroyed Nasser's water tanks.
• The Red Crescent condemned Israel's attacks on al-Amal hospital.

28 January

• The Gaza Ministry of Health reported an accumulation of medical and non-medical waste at Nasser Hospital.
  • The Ministry further reported that Nasser lacked anaesthesia and was dangerously low on blood.
• Children were buried in a mass grave at Nasser Hospital.
• The Palestinian Red Crescent stated its teams at al-Amal hospital were unable to perform surgeries due to a lack of oxygen.

29 January

• The CEO of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies stated his key concerns were "the health system on the brink of collapse, the alarming spread of diseases and the risk of famine increasing daily."
• The head of the burns department at Nasser Hospital stated, "If Israeli forces start to move into the hospital, the patients will remain in their beds until they die. It’s like an execution sentence."
• A doctor at the Gaza European Hospital stated, "The health system in Gaza is collapsed, and we’re doing our best to save lives."

30 January

• Doctors Without Borders delivered 19,000 litres (5,000 gallons) of fuel to al-Shifa Hospital.
• The Palestinian Red Crescent reported that IDF tanks had raided the al-Amal Hospital, forced displaced people to evacuate immediately, and burned down their tents.
• The Palestinian Red Crescent lost contact with a team attempting to rescue a six-year-old girl.
• Mai al-Kaila warned that Gaza was at risk of the rapid spread of epidemics.

31 January

• The Gaza Ministry of Health reported that both the Nasser Medical Complex and Al Amal Hospital had run out of food.
• The Al Amal hospital was reportedly completely out of service.

See also

• Gaza humanitarian crisis (2023–present)
• Attacks on health facilities during the Israel–Hamas war
• Killing of health workers in the Israel–Hamas war

External links

• Against every instinct: How doctors in Gaza persevere amid Israel attacks (23 January 2024)