The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) expresses its deep concern over the accelerated deterioration of the healthcare situation in Gaza Strip hospitals due to the ongoing power outages, the severe shortage of fuel required to operate hospitals’ generators, which have become dilapidated and suffer from frequent breakdowns, and the aging solar power systems that supply these hospitals with electricity, particularly amid the unavailability of spare parts due to the continued Israeli-imposed closure on the Gaza Strip for nearly two years. PCHR warns that all Gaza Strip’s hospitals are facing an unprecedented level of operational collapse and have entered a phase of ‘maintaining minimal functioning to save the lives of patients and the wounded. This is due to the Israeli Occupation Forces’ (IOF) deliberate policy of restricting the entry of fuel and vital supplies, including medical and food aid, into the Gaza Strip population.

PCHR emphasizes that although the IOF permitted the entry of 75,000 liters of fuel a few days ago for the first time in 130 days, this quantity only covers a fraction of the daily requirement of over 250,000 liters. This has been confirmed by UN agencies, which have stressed that the regular and sufficient provision of fuel is an essential condition to prevent total collapse, as fuel is the backbone of the functioning of hospitals, healthcare systems, water systems, sanitation networks, ambulance, civil defense services, bakeries, and aid distribution operations¹. Due to blocking the entry of sufficient quantities of fuel, the Gaza Strip is experiencing a complete paralysis of essential services, including the shutdown of Intensive Care Units (ICUs) and maternity units, the collapse of water and communication systems, and the accumulation of waste and sewage. All of these issues threaten the outbreak of deadly epidemics.

According to our field researchers’ follow-up, the situation at al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, one of the main governmental hospitals in the central Gaza Strip that provides services to more than half a million Palestinians, starkly illustrates this collapse. Wael Abu Sallout, the hospital’s administrative director, told PCHR’s researchers². “We are facing an imminent risk of the hospital shutting down completely within the next few hours due to fuel shortage and the failure of the main generator, compounded by the unavailability of spare parts for its maintenance caused by the ongoing Israeli closure. The hospital requires 2,500 liters of diesel per day to maintain its services, yet it is currently receiving only 500 liters per day. Since the onset of the aggression, the hospital has completely relied on generators after the electricity supply from the distribution company was cut off, while the solar power system no longer covers the minimum needs due to its obsolescence. The hospital is powered by three generators: 810 KVA main generator and 500 and 450 KVA two standby generators. Technical crews alternate operating these generators to reduce heat stress, especially during soaring temperatures, but the main generator frequently breaks down due to its need for spare parts that are unavailable in the Gaza Strip due to the siege. This situation is now directly threatening the shutdown of  critical departments in the hospital, including the ICU, which houses 11 critically ill patients; the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), which cares for 22 newborns; and the cardiac care unit, which houses 6 critically ill patients; the dialysis unit, which serves around 100 patients daily; the surgical department, which performs 25 operations per day; and the emergency department, which receives approximately 500 cases daily. Currently, we are trying to keep non-critical departments out of service to conserve energy for the most vital units, but we are approaching the point of total collapse. It’s only a matter of time.”

Under these harsh conditions, doctors, nurses, and technicians are working in an environment that lacks the bare minimum of necessities, amid a severe shortage of fuel, medications, and medical consumables, as well as limited bed capacity. Hundreds of patients sustaining critical injuries influx into emergency departments every day, amid relentless bombardment that does not spare even healthcare workers, who face hunger, displacement from their homes, and direct threats to their lives. This constitutes a compounded violation of international humanitarian law. The Healthcare Workers Watch – Palestine reported that the IOF have killed 71 healthcare workers over the past two months;³ the latest of whom were  Dr. Marwan Al-Sultan, a cardiologist and director of the Indonesian Hospital, who was killed alongside his family members on 02 July 2025, and Dr. Ahmad Qandil, a general surgery consultant at the Baptist (al-Ma’madani) Hospital, who was killed today, Sunday, 13 July 2025, when Israeli warplanes targeted a popular market in central Gaza City.

The collapse of Gaza’s healthcare system is a direct result of the IOF’s systematic policy of collective punishment and deliberate destruction of essential life necessities. This policy blatantly violates international humanitarian law.

PCHR considers the inability of hospitals to operate their critical departments a direct threat to the lives of the civilian population, depriving them of their fundamental right to health. If this situation persists, every injured person, woman in labor, and critically ill patient will face imminent risk of death, with no alternatives available. This is a direct result of the collective punishment policy imposed by the Israeli authorities on the civilian population in the Gaza Strip, constituting a grave violation of the provisions of the Fourth Geneva Convention, particularly Articles 55 and 56. This also constitutes one of the material elements of the crime of genocide, by imposing living conditions that gradually lead to the destruction of an entire population group. This conduct cannot be separated from a systematic and ongoing pattern of destroying the means of life, practiced by Israel for the past 22 months as part of its aggression targeting the existence of the Palestinian people.

In light of the above, PCHR emphasizes that halting this collapse first requires the immediate cessation of the aggression and the unconditional entry of commercial goods and humanitarian aid, most importantly fuel and medical supplies, into the Gaza Strip, as a legal obligation rather than a humanitarian favor. Therefore, PCHR condemns in the strongest terms the international community’s inaction and silence regarding the need for immediate and effective intervention to stop this collapse. It calls for broad international action to stop Israel’s insistence on cutting off the lifelines of civilians in the Gaza Strip. PCHR also demands the urgent and unconditional entry of sufficient quantities of fuel, medical equipment, and spare parts to alleviate the humanitarian crisis, along with ensuring the effective protection of health facilities. It reiterates its call to hold Israel accountable for committing a full-fledged crime of genocide.

1.  United Nations, Joint Statement by seven UN Agencies, 12 July  2025, link: ↩︎
2. Testimony obtained by PCHR’s researcher on 08 July 2025. ↩︎
3. HealthCare Workers Watch (HWW), 02 July 2025, Press Release:Link ↩︎