* 34% of Gaza’s hospitals are not working and 65% of primary health care centers are closed
* About one million four hundred thousand citizens have been displaced in the Gaza Strip.
Ramallah 10-27-2023 WAFA – The Ministry of Health announced that the death toll from the ongoing Israeli occupation forces aggression against the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, since October 7, has risen to more than 7,415 martyrs and 20,517 wounded.
The Ministry said in its daily report issued today, Friday, that 7,305 martyrs rose in the Gaza Strip, and 110 martyrs in the West Bank, while 18,567 citizens were wounded in the Strip, and 1,950 in the West Bank.
The Ministry stated in its report that 70% of the martyrs in the Gaza Strip were children, women and the elderly.
She said that the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Refugees (UNRWA), which is the largest provider of humanitarian aid in Gaza, has almost exhausted its fuel reserves and has begun to significantly reduce its operations, indicating that 12 trucks carrying water, food and medical supplies have entered through the Rafah crossing since the 21st of this month, as the World Health Organization is working in coordination with the Palestine Red Crescent Society to facilitate the delivery of supplies to hospitals.
The Ministry added that 34% of Gaza’s hospitals are not working, and 65% of primary health care centers are closed, while more than 37,000 people among the displaced suffer from non-communicable diseases, including 4,600 pregnant women, and 380 postpartum cases requiring medical care among the displaced, and 15 % of the displaced suffer from various disabilities, and most shelter centers are not equipped and lack mattresses and medical beds.
Regarding attacks on health personnel, the Ministry recorded more than 260 attacks, with 104 health personnel martyred, more than 100 injured, and 50 ambulances damaged, including 25 that were completely out of service.
There were also 69 attacks on health facilities, 12 of which were out of service, namely the International Eye Hospital, Dar Al Salam Hospital, Al-Yaman Al-Saeed Hospital, Psychiatric Hospital, Beit Hanoun Hospital, Al-Durrah Children’s Hospital, Hamad Rehabilitation Hospital, Al-Karama Hospital, and Al-Wafa Rehabilitation Hospital, Specialized medicine and surgery.
46 out of 72 health care centers stopped working as a result of the bombing and the depletion of fuel. It also indicated that the occupation demanded the evacuation of 24 hospitals in the northern Gaza Strip (the total capacity of these hospitals is 2,000 beds).
She pointed to the severe shortage of medicines, equipment, and personnel needed to treat large numbers of wounded, in addition to the sharp decrease in fuel needed to operate electricity, as surgical operations are performed without anesthesia and by the light of telephones.
The Ministry of Health estimated the number of displaced people in the Gaza Strip at about one million four hundred thousand citizens, with 629,000 people living in 150 emergency shelters designated for UNRWA.
Overcrowding is a growing source of concern, and the average number of internally displaced persons per shelter reached 2.7 times its capacity, with the most crowded shelter reaching 2.7 times its capacity, 11 times its carrying capacity.
The report indicated that 45% of the housing units in the Gaza Strip were destroyed as a result of the violent bombardment launched by the occupation army by air, land and sea since the start of the aggression on the seventh of this month.
The number of completely destroyed and uninhabitable housing units reached 27,781 units, 150,000 units were partially destroyed, 12 health facilities were destroyed or out of service after their destruction, and 46 health care centers, in addition to 219 educational institutions, including 29 UNRWA schools.
The Ministry of Health stressed that the shelter centers are overloaded by 250%, which poses a risk of disease outbreaks, noting that many victims are still missing under the rubble.
Last Tuesday, Minister of Health Mai Al-Kaila announced the complete collapse of the health sector in the southern governorates, which means that all hospitals are no longer able to provide any medical services to the sick and wounded.
The Ministry of Health monitored cases of smallpox, scabies, and diarrhea, as a result of a poor sanitary environment and the use of water from unsafe sources.
