What is happening in Gaza?
(Last updated: 30 April 2024)
Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP) has launched an unprecedented emergency response amid growing critical health needs in Gaza and the occupied West Bank including East Jerusalem, resulting from the current escalation of violence and Israel’s ongoing bombardment and complete siege on Gaza.
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On 7 October 2023, the Israeli military launched an extensive aerial bombardment across Gaza, hitting homes, hospitals, clinics, schools and essential infrastructure. This has resulted in mass casualties and destruction of civilian infrastructure.
- More than 34,488 Palestinians have been killed and 77,643 have been injured.
- Thousands more are thought to remain missing under the rubble of buildings destroyed by Israeli military airstrikes.
- In late 2023, before October 7th, Gaza's population was 2.2 million people, according to the MoH. More than 1% of the population have been killed and many were forced to leave Gaza. There is currently an estimated 1.2 million people in Rafah and between 350,000 - 450,000 people in the North of Gaza.
- The Palestinian Ministry of Health has confirmed at least 500,000 cases of infectious diseases, noting that the actual number is likely to be higher. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has reported that cases of meningitis, jaundice, impetigo, chickenpox and other upper respiratory tract infections have been recorded.
Israel’s military assault follows attacks in cities and towns surrounding Gaza by Palestinian armed groups which killed at least 1,200 Israelis and foreign nationals, and more than 5,400 injured according to Israeli media.
Since 9 October, Israeli authorities have imposed a total siege on Gaza, halting the entry food, fuel, electricity, medical items and water.
Impact on the health system
- Of the 36 main hospitals that used to serve over two million Gazans, only 10 remain somewhat functional, with severe limitations on the types of services they can deliver.
- Evacuation orders issued to 22 hospitals in northern Gaza on 13 October put patients at risk in what the WHO has said were “a death sentence” for sick and injured patients.
- Since then, hospitals in the north including Shifa, Indonesian, Kamal Adwan, Al Awda and Al Ahli, have all been surrounded and besieged by Israeli forces, obstructing access to the wounded and causing terror among thousands of staff, patients and sheltering families inside.
- Israeli army has completely destroyed Al Shifa Hospital, the biggest hospital in Gaza, which used to have around 800 beds. Israel has besieged and partially damaged Al Nasser Hospital, the biggest hospital in the South. Making the biggest two hospitals in Gaza completely out of service.
- Following the destruction of Shifa Hospital, at least 350,000 Palestinians in the north are now served by as few as 200 hospital beds, with Kamal Adwan and al-Ahli hospitals operating at just 30% and 70% capacity, respectively, and lacking many of the specialist services that were available at Shifa.
- Over the past six months, the Israeli military has conducted more than 435 attacks on healthcare in Gaza and killed at least 484 healthcare workers.
- A clear pattern of repeated, direct and apparently unlawful attacks, as well as the impacts of the siege, leads MAP to conclude that Gaza’s healthcare system is being systematically dismantled.
West Bank, including East Jerusalem
The emergency in Gaza is spilling over into the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. Since 7 October 2023:
- Israeli soldiers and settlers have killed 455 Palestinians, including over 100 children, and injured some 4,760 Palestinians.
- Over 1,600 Palestinians have been displaced due to home demolitions, more than half of whom were displaced in operations carried out by Israeli forces.
Lebanon
MAP is also worried about the potential impact of growing instability in southern Lebanon, with continued clashes between armed groups and Israeli forces across the border.
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