In a health system pushed to the edge by years of blockade and the devastation of ongoing Israeli attacks, a small but meaningful breakthrough emerged this week in Gaza City. Surgeons at the Specialized Eye Hospital have resumed cornea transplant operations for the first time in more than three years, offering a rare moment of hope to patients who had long been told they would have to wait indefinitely.
Al-Jazeera reported that hospital officials said two transplant surgeries were completed successfully, restoring sight to patients who had spent years on waiting lists as medical supplies dwindled and operating rooms fell silent.
The hospital now hopes to rebuild enough capacity to perform between 200 and 250 eye surgeries each month, including up to 40 cornea transplants, depending on the availability of equipment and donor tissue.
Doctors explained to Al-Jazeera that restarting the program required a combination of outside support and local determination.
Recent shipments of medications and diagnostic equipment — provided through partnerships with OSM Canada and Islamic Relief Canada — allowed the hospital to repair damaged equipment and reopen its operating theaters.
The first two surgeries were made possible through a deeply personal act of generosity. The family of Mahmoud Abu Sees, who was killed by Israeli soldiers in northern Gaza days earlier, donated his corneas to help restore the vision of two patients.
Medical teams described the gesture as a powerful example of community solidarity at a time when Gaza’s health sector is struggling to stay afloat.
Hospitals across the Strip remain overwhelmed. Many facilities are operating without reliable electricity, sterile supplies, or functioning diagnostic equipment.
Doctors say thousands of patients — including trauma victims, cancer patients, and people with chronic illnesses — urgently need treatment outside Gaza, but medical evacuation remains severely restricted.
A Fragile Step Forward
Health officials welcomed the return of cornea transplants but cautioned that Gaza’s medical system remains dangerously close to collapse.
Without steady access to medical supplies, fuel, and reconstruction materials, they warned, even small gains like this could quickly disappear.
The Ministry of Health renewed its call for urgent international intervention to stabilize hospital operations, reopen medical evacuation channels, and prevent further loss of life as the humanitarian crisis deepens.
