Unprecedented medical crisis: healthcare workers and facilities targeted in Gaza

The Union of Medical Care and Relief Organizations (UOSSM) warns of a catastrophic humanitarian crisis in Gaza, reaching ‘a point of no return’. Dr Ben Thompson, a USOSSM member, stated that 283 healthcare workers and 133 UN staff members have been killed in Gaza, the deadliest period in UN history. ‘Of the 35 hospitals in Gaza as of this morning, 26 are non-functional, with nine remaining only partially functional,’ he said. Ambulance convoys have been bombed in Gaza, and with fuel shortages and hospital closures, treating patients is no longer feasible. ‘It is now impossible to evacuate wounded people in the north. Instead, those patients are left to die,’ said Dr Thompson. Over 17,000 Palestinians have been killed since the beginning of Israel’s onslaught on Gaza on 7 October, including over 7,000 children. Due to overcrowding at hospitals and UN shelters, the spread of infectious diseases has increased, including a hepatitis A outbreak, multiple meningitis outbreaks, lice and skin infections.