Gaza City, May 13 (RHC)-- The Palestinian Health Ministry in the Gaza Strip says the ongoing Israeli onslaught has claimed the lives of hundreds of doctors and medical staff across the besieged territory.
In a statement released on Sunday, the ministry said the regime’s forces have killed at least 500 medical personnel across Gaza since the Israeli genocide started early last October. It added that the figure includes at least 138 nurses who have lost their lives as a result of the regime’s indiscriminate strikes.
The ministry called on the international community to take necessary measures to “protect medical personnel and health institutions in Gaza.”
Throughout their genocidal war, the Israeli occupation forces have made Gaza’s hospitals regular targets of their relentless strikes, killing not only the medical staff, but also patients and displaced Palestinians taking shelter in medical complexes.
On May 2nd, the World Health Organization said it has documented 443 Israeli attacks on Gaza’s healthcare sector since the regime’s genocidal war started on October 7, 2023. According to the world body, the regime’s attacks “have resulted in 723 fatalities, 924 injuries, damage to 101 facilities and affected 106 ambulances.”
It added that two-fifths (38 percent) of attacks took place in Gaza City, a quarter (22 percent) in north Gaza, and over a quarter (29 percent) in the southern Gaza city of Khan Yunis. “Health care is not a target,” the WHO emphasized.
Since the beginning of Israel’s genocidal war, the regime has killed at least 35,034 civilians, most of them women and children, leaving 78,755 Palestinians injured.
On May 8, WHO’s Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a post on X social media platform that hospitals in the south of Gaza only have three days of fuel left, “which means services may soon come to a halt.” He blamed the dire humanitarian situation in southern Gaza on Israel’s decision to close the border crossing between the city of Rafah and Egypt ahead of the regime’s planned invasion of the city despite the international outcry against it.
“The closure of the border crossing continues to prevent the UN from bringing fuel. Without fuel all humanitarian operations will stop. Border closures are also impeding delivery of humanitarian aid into Gaza,” he added.
