Power outages to stop health services in Gaza hospital

An official at the Palestinian Ministry of Health warned on Sunday that medical services provided by the largest hospital in the Gaza Strip would soon stop due to an ongoing electricity crisis.

Medhat Abbas, director general of the hospital, told a news conference:

Only one week of fuel is available for Al-Shifa Medical Complex, which provides services to half a million patients a year

He added: “This hospital also saved the lives of thousands of Palestinian people injured in the ongoing marches on the security fence.”

He said in a few days “there will be no fuel to run generators used to provide power needed to operate departments and organs of the hospital”.

He warned of the danger of power outages for many departments such as dialysis, intensive care, surgery rooms, outpatient clinics, and sections of radiation.

“The lack of electricity poses a direct threat to the lives of civilians inside the besieged Gaza Strip,” he said.

Abbas added that the donors the Ministry of Health relied on to provide fuel to their hospitals were no longer available.

Home to nearly two million people, the Gaza Strip boasts a total of 13 Ministry-run hospitals and 54 primary healthcare centres that account for roughly 95 percent of all health services in the coastal enclave.

Gaza, which continues to groan under Israeli siege, has struggled with severe electricity shortages since 2006.