The ceasefire in Gaza that was agreed upon a month ago between Israel and Hamas did not allow Muhammad Al-Zuhairi (78 years old) to obtain medicine to treat the chronic asthma he suffers from. “Even the inhaler I used is not available in Gaza. They give me painkillers, but there is no real treatment,” says this man, a father of five children and grandfather of 30 grandchildren – two of whom died during the war – who had to move from Tal al-Zaatar in the north to central Gaza. Health authorities reported that medications for this lung disease, and many others, are still unavailable.
Al-Zuhairi also did not receive a tent, cloth, or food basket recently, even though winter is coming and the asthmatic’s condition worsens with the cold and if he does not eat properly. “I can only find some food at a nearby soup kitchen,” he says. In a few days, his son Iyad, 44, will become a father. He regrets: “We expected an improvement in our living conditions, but nothing has changed.”
United Nations statistics indicate that 18 out of 36 hospitals in the Gaza Strip are currently operating partially. Four of them were able to open their doors after the ceasefire came into effect. In addition, the World Health Organization reports that there are seven centers caring for children with severe acute malnutrition. According to their estimates, there are about 25,000 children under the age of five in Gaza who need urgent medical care due to malnutrition.
According to Zaher Al-Wahidi, director of the Health Information Center of the Ministry of Health in the Strip, where the Islamist Hamas movement has ruled since 2007, there is no improvement in the health sector a month after the ceasefire came into effect. According to the official, between 10 and 15 people die every day due to the lack of available medical services.
Al-Wahidi explains, for example, that the availability of medicines has increased from 54% to 55% in recent weeks. The shortage of primary care medications reaches 56%, which means that half of patients with chronic diseases (heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure) do not receive regular treatment. In emergency cases, the medicine shortage rate reaches 38%, which is an “unprecedented and dangerous” rate for the services that receive the largest number of patients, according to Al-Wahidi.
According to Gaza Ministry sources, MRI machines are no longer working in Gaza after Israeli forces destroyed or disabled seven machines. Of the 17 CT machines, only six are working. Against this background, Al-Wahidi doubts the next phase of the ceasefire. “Everything is very confusing because the politicians themselves do not have a clear vision. We cannot predict or anticipate what the situation will be like.”
Al-Wahidi says: “The health teams are extremely exhausted. We lost 1,722 professionals, the occupation arrested 361, and 440 left Gaza,” revealing the urgent need for specialized medical delegations.
In the north, Caroline Segan, MSF’s emergency coordinator in the Gaza Strip, warned that the situation was particularly critical due to the level of destruction. He describes: “Hospitals are not working at all. Some hospitals in Gaza City are still working at half their capacity, but all of them were also partially destroyed. They lack primary care services, and of course secondary care as well.”
The healthcare sector did not witness the expected improvement and no real or fundamental change occurred in its reality.
Zaher Al-Wahidi, Director of the Health Information Center at the Ministry of Health
UNFPA, the United Nations sexual and reproductive health agency, warned in July that pregnant women and newborns in Gaza faced “catastrophic” conditions due to the collapse of Gaza’s health system, stress and food deprivation. At the time, it was estimated that shortages of essential medicines and the destruction of hospitals led to a decline in critical neonatal care by 70%.
In the case of cancer patients, 67% of the necessary medications and treatments are not available. According to the Palestinian Center for Human Rights, there were about 12,500 people suffering from cancer in Gaza before the outbreak of this war. Last May, chemotherapy was completely stopped in the Gaza Strip after the European Hospital stopped working after it was targeted by Israeli attacks. Since then, minimal chemotherapy services have been provided at Nasser Hospital.
In Gaza, there is also a shortage of basic materials such as syringes, gloves and masks, as well as operating room and laboratory equipment, preventing vital tests for chronic patients. In 2024, the Palestinian Ministry of Health estimates that about 350,000 people in Gaza suffering from chronic diseases such as diabetes, cancer, cardiovascular, kidney and respiratory diseases are deprived of medical examinations and basic treatments due to the war.
In parallel, Israel also limits the number of foreign medical missions entering Gaza and the number of patients evacuated to receive treatment abroad. Since the ceasefire came into effect on October 10, only 165 people have been able to leave, according to World Health Organization data. According to these sources, about 16,500 patients will need urgent evacuation to receive health care.
The number of patients leaving for treatment abroad through the Kerem Shalom border crossing with Israel decreased to 43 children within two months, compared to about 100 children leaving per month before the war.
According to ministry data in Gaza, the number of dialysis patients decreased from 1,244 to 622. Of those who were no longer receiving treatment, 43 died due to Israeli bombing, 44 left Gaza to receive treatment, and the rest died due to the impossibility of receiving treatment.
US President Donald Trump’s plan for Gaza, which served as the basis for negotiating a truce between Hamas and Israel, foresees the entry of an amount of humanitarian aid into the Strip similar to that recorded in the previous two-month ceasefire at the beginning of the year, when the daily flow ranged between 500 and 600 trucks. But these numbers are not reached, and the humanitarian aid allowed by Israel is not sufficient to meet the enormous needs, according to international and local humanitarian organizations.
In light of the volume of aid entering Gaza, it is clear that the aid allocated to the health sector is still insufficient. For example, on November 11, more than 3,700 pallets of aid were unloaded from UN entities. Of this, 67% were food and only 1% were health supplies, according to data from the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
According to these sources, since the ceasefire entered into force, Israel has prevented the entry of more than 6,490 tons of UN-coordinated humanitarian aid into Gaza. Much of it contained medical supplies.
Doctors Without Borders confirms that it was able to enter some trucks loaded with medicines, but there are still many materials that cannot enter due to Israeli control. “I am referring here to the equipment needed to perform CT scans, X-ray machines, as well as some important equipment for surgery,” explains Séguin.
Asmaa Al-Helou, 39, walks slowly along Gaza’s Mediterranean coast carrying her children’s torn clothes washed in seawater. There is no fresh water for washing clothes, dishes or bathing. Her three-year-old son Mahmoud, who is still wetting himself due to frequent illness and severe colds, needs clean clothes.
Sweet’s bare feet sink into the sand. She is a divorced mother with 13 children, seven boys and six girls, the eldest of whom is Qusay, 19 years old. She does not have any source of income. Her ex-husband left them without any help. He collapses in front of his tent, which he surrounded with blankets and worn-out fabrics. Mahmoud jumps into his arms while nine of his sons gather around him, begging for bread or food. It was almost noon and they had not eaten anything. “Nothing has changed for us even though a month has passed since the ceasefire,” Al-Helou says.
“I’m not strong and I can’t handle it anymore,” Al-Helou says. “I am forced to endure this situation that no human being can endure. I am exhausted and very depressed and I want to cry until I die. This is not life, this reality is like death.”
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