The Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) continue their brutal military offensive on Gaza City, targeting the remaining civilian infrastructure, including hospitals and health centers, in blatant violation of the rules of international humanitarian law. The IOF’s recent and systematic attacks have forced four hospitals out of service, bringing the total number of destroyed or evacuated hospitals and health facilities to 20, leaving only seven barely functional hospitals that provide a minimal level of healthcare. These hospitals are currently under the threat of forced evacuation, as Israeli military vehicles advance toward them, repeating scenes that have persisted throughout the two years of the genocidal war. This escalation confirms that the IOF have decided to completely destroy Gaza City’s health system, execute hundreds of seriously ill patients inside the city’s hospitals, and leave hundreds of thousands of civilians without essential health services, forcibly displacing them to the south and depriving them of their most basic rights to medical treatment and healthcare.
According to testimonies obtained by our researchers from doctors and patients inside al-Shifa Medical Complex, the IOF intentionally launched repeated attacks at night using fire belts and explosive-landed vehicles, putting the lives of those around the hospital at risk and inciting fear among patients and their companions, particularly as Israeli military vehicles have advanced into the complex from the northern and eastern sides over the past few hours. As a result, many patients were forced to flee despite their dire need for treatment. These attacks have made access to the complex extremely dangerous and led to the suspension of many medical procedures, as healthcare staff cannot reach the hospital and some have been killed by the IOF. Additionally, there is an acute shortage of medicines and medical supplies, forcing doctors to perform complex surgeries without anesthesia under distressing circumstances. These horrific scenes recall the previous sieges of Gaza’s hospitals by the IOF, reflecting recurring chapters of an unfolding genocide
Dr. Hasan al-Sha’ir, the Medical Director of Al-Shifa Medical Complex, stated to PCHR’s researcher that part of the medical staff continues to work despite the harsh conditions and overwhelming fear, recalling previous experiences when the IOF besieged the same complex, killing many medical personnel and arresting others. He stressed the urgent need for life-saving medicines and supplies, adding that patients and the wounded live in constant fear of Israeli military vehicles advancing toward the complex. Dr. al-Sha’ir confirmed that at least 100 patients are currently receiving treatment under extremely difficult circumstances.1
PCHR stresses that the situation at the remaining hospitals in Gaza City has become unbearable. These hospitals, including al-Shifa Medical Complex, Friends of the Patient Hospital, Al-Sahaba Medical Complex, Baptist (al-Ma’madani) Hospital, Al-Wafa Rehabilitation Hospital, Al-Helo Hospital, and Al-Saraya Field Hospital, face the imminent risk of completely ceasing their services within a few days due to intensified military operations in their vicinity and repeated evacuation threats, in addition to the depletion of fuel and essential medical supplies. Such conditions would paralyze critical departments and put the lives of the remaining civilians at immediate risk. In parallel, blood banks are facing a severe crisis due to an acute shortage of blood units and their components. Hospitals are facing catastrophic shortages of essential medicines, with 52% of basic drugs out of stock. The shortage of single-use medical supplies has reached 68%, with no alternative stocks available, hindering the provision of urgent medical care. 2 PCHR’s researchers, after assessing the conditions of dozens of patients, observed that many critical cases do not receive the necessary treatment in Gaza City’s hospitals. Furthermore, hospital pharmacies dispense medicines only in very limited quantities, while private pharmacies lack them except for few available medicines that most patients cannot afford due to the dire economic situation.
The ongoing attacks and severe shortage of resources have critically weakened the health system, especially after 94% of hospitals were destroyed, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). The remaining partially functioning hospitals have also sustained damage, further disrupting the delivery of essential health services. Reports by the Health Cluster in Palestine indicate that 16 medical points and 11 primary healthcare centers in Gaza City either suspended their services or closed their doors between 01 and 23 September. Meanwhile, the remaining hospitals have been overwhelmed by mass casualty incidents, with an average of eight incidents per day. According to the WHO, al-Shifa and al-Ahli hospitals in Gaza City are operating at nearly 300% over capacity, with a constant influx of patients and injured to these hospitals. As a result, the Gaza Strip could lose half of its hospital bed capacity under the current Israeli assault on Gaza City.3
In a serious escalation, Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders) announced on Friday, 26 September 2025, that it was forced to suspend its activities and leave Gaza City after the IOF besieged its offices and clinics around al-Shifa Medical Complex. This will deprive thousands of patients of essential medical services provided by the MSF and leave the remaining patients facing an uncertain fate. According to the MSF, despite the escalating assault, it provided over the past week more than 3,640 medical consultations and treated 1,655 people suffering from malnutrition. The services also included patients with severe injuries and burns, as well as pregnant women and others who require continuous medical care and are unable to leave the city. 4
Jacob Granger, MSF Emergency Coordinator in Gaza, stated: “We have been left with no choice but to stop our activities, as our clinics are encircled by Israeli forces,”. He added: “This is the last thing we wanted, as the needs in Gaza City are enormous, with the most vulnerable people – infants in neo-natal care, those with severe injuries and life-threatening illnesses – unable to move and in grave danger.”
In light of these dangerous escalations, the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) believes that what is happening to the health system in the Gaza Strip, including the direct targeting of hospitals and medical personnel, the denial of patients’ right to treatment, and the deprivation of civilians of food, water, and medicine, constitutes a flagrant violation of the international humanitarian law and war crimes under the Four Geneva Conventions. It also amounts to the crime of genocide under Article 6 of the Genocide Convention and the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, as civilians are being systematically targeted as part of a clear policy aimed at destroying their lives and means of survival. Accordingly, the international community’s continued silence, and its failure to take effective measures to halt these crimes, amounts to complicity. This inaction not only deepens the suffering of civilians but also gives Israel a green light to persist in committing such crimes with impunity.
Therefore, PCHR emphasizes that an immediate and sustainable ceasefire, unrestricted access for humanitarian aid, the provision of fuel, medicines, and medical supplies, and the safe operation of health facilities are urgent measures that cannot be delayed if the world is willing to prevent a complete collapse of the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip, which would have catastrophic consequences for the lives of hundreds of thousands of civilians. PCHR calls for international protection for hospitals and medical personnel as protected civilian facilities, the opening of safe humanitarian corridors for the wounded and sick, and an independent international investigation into the grave violations against the health system in Gaza, which form part of the crime of genocide against the population of the Gaza Strip.
