A hospital in the center announced today (26/12) that it is temporarily suspending most of its activities due to a lack of fuel. Only vital services, such as emergency services, will remain in operation amid the humanitarian crisis in the Palestinian enclave.
Al-Awda Hospital in Nuseirat receives about 1,000 patients daily and has 60 hospital beds.
“Most services are temporarily suspended due to a lack of fuel to run the generators,” said Ahmed Mehana of the Al Auda Health Association, which runs the hospital. The emergency, maternity and pediatric clinics will remain open, he added, clarifying that the administration had to rent a generator to ensure that these clinics would also continue to operate.
Under normal conditions, the hospital consumes 1,000-1,200 liters of diesel every day, but its reserves now do not exceed 800 liters. If the fuel shortage continues, it will not be able to provide even basic services, Mehanda warned.
“We lack everything in our lives, even basic medical services”
One patient, displaced refugee Hitam Ayada, 30, who went to hospital after suffering for days in pain, said she was not given an X-ray because “there was no electricity”. “They gave me a painkiller and told me that if my condition doesn’t improve, I should go to another hospital,” he said. That same night, suffering more, Ayanda went to another hospital where she was diagnosed with gallstones. “We lack everything in our lives, even basic medical services,” he commented.
Despite the fragile truce between Israel and Hamas, which took effect on October 10, the humanitarian crisis in the Palestinian enclave persists. Although the agreement called for 600 trucks of humanitarian aid to enter on a daily basis, only 100-300 enter Gaza, according to the United Nations and NGOs.
Most of the two million inhabitants, many of whom have been displaced by the fighting, could not survive without the support of UN agencies and international NGOs.
The hospital sector has been hit very hard. During the war, the Israeli military bombed hospitals several times, accusing Hamas of hiding its command centers in their facilities, which the group denies.
