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Gaza health system on the brink: Critical shortages, rising death toll

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Al Mayadeen English
19 Aug 2025 17:03
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Gaza's severe health crisis reaches extremes with critical lab shortages, rising famine deaths, and over 62,000 killed amid the unabated Israeli aggression.

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A Palestinian child collects humanitarian aid from the United Arab Emirates, airdropped by parachutes into Deir al-Balah, in the central Gaza Strip, Tuesday, Aug. 19, 2025. (AP)

The Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza has issued a stark warning regarding the collapse of laboratory services and blood banks across the Strip, as the effects of the ongoing Israeli aggression continue to deepen the humanitarian crisis.

According to the ministry, nearly half (49%) of all laboratory testing materials are completely out of stock, while 60.3% of the remaining essential lab materials are expected to be depleted within a month. Similarly, 51.4% of laboratory consumables and supplies are projected to run out in the same time frame. This poses a serious threat to the health infrastructure, particularly as demand for testing continues to rise.

Several critical diagnostic procedures in operating rooms and intensive care units have already been halted or are on the verge of suspension due to the unavailability of necessary resources. Notably, the materials used to test blood drug levels in post-operative patients, particularly those who have undergone kidney or liver transplants, have completely run out.

The CBC test, one of the most basic and essential blood tests conducted daily in health facilities, is also nearing depletion, with the remaining stock sufficient for only a few days. Furthermore, materials required to ensure the safety of blood transfusions, used to test for viruses such as HBsAg, HCV, and HIV, are critically low and will last just a few more days, raising the alarming possibility of unsafe blood being administered to patients.

Supplies for blood gas tests, which are vital for assessing respiratory and metabolic function in critical cases, are also expected to be exhausted within days. In addition, 42% of chemical testing materials, including those for Bilirubin and Ammonia levels, are close to running out.

The situation is further compounded by a severe shortage in blood bags and transfusion kits, with reserves expected to last less than a month. Compounding the crisis, all immunological testing and core lab services, including newborn screenings and PCR tests, have been suspended since the beginning of the war.

The ministry also reported that approximately 45% of laboratory equipment has been either damaged or destroyed, leaving many machines inoperable. These urgently require spare parts and technical maintenance to be brought back into service.

Over 60 martyred in 24 hours

In the past 24 hours alone, 60 martyrs, including two recovered from under the rubble, and 343 injuries were recorded at hospitals across Gaza.

Many victims remain trapped beneath the rubble or on the streets, unreachable due to the inability of ambulance and civil defense teams to access affected areas.

Since October 7, 2023, the aggression has claimed the lives of 62,064 people and injured 156,573 others.

Since the collapse of the ceasefire on March 18, 2025, the number of martyrs has reached 10,518, with 44,532 injuries documented.

266 died of starvation

Among the martyrs of what the ministry refers to as the “bread massacres,” 31 were killed and 197 were injured in the last 24 hours alone. This brings the total number of such martyrs to 1,996, with over 14,898 injured.

Furthermore, three deaths due to famine and malnutrition were recorded in the past day, raising the total famine-related deaths to 266, including 112 children.

It is worth noting that this comes after Hamas and other Palestinian Resistance factions accepted a ceasefire proposal brokered by Egyptian and Qatari mediators, a senior Palestinian official told Al Mayadeen.