Three Palestinians, including a child, were killed and ten others injured on Monday after an Israeli strike targeted a vehicle in the Al‑Mawasi area west of Khan Younis, in southern Gaza, a zone previously designated as a “safe area” by the Israeli military.
Medical sources stated that the victims were transported to the Al‑Mawasi field hospital operated by the Palestinian Red Crescent Society, where emergency teams provided first aid and urgent treatment to the wounded.
The sources identified the slain Palestinians as Ehsan Hamed Samiri, Yahia Abu Lebda and a child, Tamer Baraka.
Doctors described several of the injuries as critical, warning that the hospital’s limited capacity and dwindling supplies make lifesaving interventions increasingly difficult.
The attack comes as Gaza’s already‑collapsed health system faces a new and potentially catastrophic threat: Israel’s continued ban on the entry of engine oils and spare parts needed to operate and maintain hospital generators.
A Deliberate Strangulation of the Health Sector
The Ministry of Health in Gaza stated that the ongoing Israeli refusal to allow in generator oils and essential spare parts represents “one of the most dangerous forms of pressure” on the Gaza Strip’s exhausted medical system.
With the electricity grid destroyed and fuel nearly impossible to obtain, hospitals rely entirely on generators to power operating rooms, intensive care units, neonatal incubators, dialysis departments, and diagnostic imaging services.
The Ministry reports that Gaza’s health facilities require 2,500 liters of oil every month to keep generators functioning. What remains of the generators—many of which have been running continuously for more than two years—are now severely degraded, prone to repeated breakdowns, and operating far beyond their intended lifespan.
Engineers and technicians at the Ministry are working under “extremely depleted and limited capacities,” attempting to keep the generators running with improvised repairs and salvaged parts. But officials warn that these efforts are no longer sustainable.
Vital Hospital Departments at Imminent Risk of Shutdown
The Ministry of Health cautioned that several critical departments are now at risk of complete shutdown due to the worsening shortage of generator oils and spare parts. These include:
- Intensive care units.
- Surgical theaters.
- Neonatal incubators.
- Emergency departments.
- Dialysis units.
- Diagnostic imaging services, including X‑ray and CT.
Any interruption in power to these departments, even for minutes, could result in immediate loss of life.
Health officials described the situation as “a daily battle to prevent a full collapse,” noting that even basic painkillers have become scarce luxuries for patients facing life‑threatening conditions.
Urgent Appeal for International Intervention
The Ministry of Health renewed its urgent appeal to all relevant international bodies, humanitarian organizations, and diplomatic actors to pressure Israel to allow the entry of generator oils and spare parts without delay.
“Saving Gaza’s health system cannot be achieved through temporary or piecemeal solutions,” the Ministry said. “The continued ban on essential supplies is pushing hospitals toward irreversible collapse.”
We all have watched videos circulating online showing Israeli terrorist soldiers opening fire toward Gaza with machine guns, celebrating or joking while doing so. These clips have been posted by the soldiers themselves during the terrorist campaign on Gaza.
Here is an example pic.twitter.com/LSS98XCMfu
— Mosab Abu Toha (@MosabAbuToha) March 17, 2026
The strike in Al‑Mawasi and the deepening crisis in Gaza’s hospitals underscore the widening humanitarian catastrophe across the Strip, where ongoing siege, bombardment, and systematic destruction has left civilians with almost no access to safe shelter, medical care, or basic services.
The latest death raises the number of Palestinians killed since the October 11, 2025 “ceasefire” period to 674, with more than 1,764 wounded and 756 bodies recovered from beneath destroyed buildings during that same timeframe.
Broader cumulative figures since the beginning of the genocide in Gaza on October 7, 2023, now stand at 72,249 killed and 171,888 injured, reflecting the scale of destruction and the sustained intensity of military operations across the Strip.
