Gaza’s health system on the brink as casualty toll nears 53,000
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Gaza’s health sector is nearing total collapse as hospitals run out of beds, surgical tools, and emergency capacity amid relentless Israeli bombardment.
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Palestinian mother Maha Elayan weeps as she embraces the body of her 7-year-old son, Qasim, who was killed in an overnight Israeli airstrike on a UN school used as a shelter, ahead of his burial at Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir al-Balah, in the central Gaza Strip, Wednesday, May 7, 2025 (AP)
Palestinian health authorities have issued an urgent warning about the collapse of Gaza’s healthcare system, as the number of Palestinians killed in the ongoing Israeli genocide has soared past 52,800.
Meanwhile, the latest 24-hour casualty report recorded 33 more fatalities, including the bodies of four martyrs retrieved from beneath the rubble, and 94 injuries, bringing the overall toll from the brutal Israeli war to 52,862 killed and 119,648 wounded since October 7, 2023.
The ministry noted that a number of victims remain trapped beneath collapsed buildings or in the streets, unreachable by first responders due to ongoing bombardments and unsafe conditions.
Gaza this morning. pic.twitter.com/UDbgUB5pvn
— Muhammad Smiry 🇵🇸 (@MuhammadSmiry) May 12, 2025
Since the latest escalation began on March 18, 2025, Gaza has recorded 2,749 additional deaths and 7,607 injuries, the statement said.
Israeli strikes intensify across Gaza, civilians killed in markets and near schools
Israeli bombardment continued across the Gaza Strip, with deadly strikes reported in several densely populated areas, including marketplaces and near schools, as smoke grenades and artillery pounded the eastern neighborhoods of Gaza City.
According to Al Mayadeen's correspondent, the bodies of four martyrs were retrieved from the Qizan al-Najjar area in southern Khan Younis, following intense Israeli shelling in the area.
In eastern Gaza City, at least one Palestinian, identified as Moayad Jundiyeh, was killed and multiple others were injured when Israeli occupation forces struck a group of Palestinians in the al-Shujaiya neighborhood.
A separate strike near the same market killed another Palestinian, further escalating fears for the safety of residents trying to access basic goods amid the total Israeli siege.
Don’t forget Israeli crimes! pic.twitter.com/CYf3EGR83g
— Motasem A Dalloul (@AbujomaaGaza) May 12, 2025
Israeli artillery also targeted the eastern edge of the al-Zaytun neighborhood, southeast of Gaza City, while the invading Israeli units fired smoke grenades across the eastern districts in tandem with the bombardment.
Elsewhere in al-Zaytun, two more Palestinians were shot dead by an Israeli drone near Al-Furqan School, raising alarm over the growing danger to civilians sheltering in or around educational facilities.
The renewed escalation adds to an already dire humanitarian situation in Gaza, where airstrikes, displacement, and the collapse of infrastructure have left hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in desperate need.
Medical equipment shortage in Gaza
In a grim statement, the Ministry of Health revealed that key hospital departments, including operating rooms, intensive care units, and emergency wards, are operating with "depleted and worn-out medical equipment." The ministry urgently appealed for mobile X-ray machines, anesthesia units, and other surgical support tools, saying that emergency interventions are becoming increasingly impossible to carry out.
Specialized surgeries such as orthopedics, vascular operations, and eye procedures are no longer feasible due to the absence of basic instruments, officials added.
Inpatient departments are also overwhelmed. “There is a severe shortage of hospital beds and essential support tools,” the ministry said, adding that there are no spaces left to accommodate the rising number of wounded and sick.
The crisis continues to fuel international concern about the humanitarian toll of the war and the increasingly dire conditions inside Gaza’s besieged health sector.
UNRWA: Gaza Humanitarian crisis 'beyond imagination' as siege chokes life-saving aid
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) has issued a stark warning about the humanitarian catastrophe unfolding in Gaza, describing conditions as “beyond imagination” amid ongoing Israeli air strikes, a tightening blockade, and mass displacement.
In a post on social media platform X, UNRWA said that tens of thousands of Palestinians have been killed or wounded, while families forced to flee their homes are now enduring collapsed infrastructure, sewage flooding, and food markets that have run completely dry.
The humanitarian crisis in #Gaza is beyond imagination.
— UNRWA (@UNRWA) May 11, 2025
Air strikes, blockades, and starvation continue, with tens of thousands killed and injured. Displaced families face collapsing infrastructure, sewage overflows, and empty markets.
The siege must be lifted to ensure vital… pic.twitter.com/lQEEbZW86R
"Air strikes, blockades, and starvation continue," the agency wrote, emphasizing the urgent need to lift the siege to allow for the flow of life-saving humanitarian and commercial supplies into the Strip.
The agency reiterated its call for immediate humanitarian access and a ceasefire, warning that the continued isolation of Gaza is accelerating an already dire public health and humanitarian emergency.
This is happening as US President Donald Trump hailed Hamas' announcement of its intention to release the American-Israeli captive in Gaza, Edan Alexander, as a "good faith gesture," expressing hope for an end to the "brutal conflict" in Gaza.
