Fuel Cutoff Will Turn Gaza Hospitals into Mass Graves

Carl Osgood January 9, 2025 EST EIRNS - Credit: via REUTERS

Al Jazeera reported from in Deir el-Balah in central Gaza this morning, that hospitals that are still functioning are on the verge of running out of fuel. Major operations at Al-Aqsa Hospital have been downsized in order to provide enough fuel for more essential departments such as the intensive care unit, Al Jazeera reported. The nearly depleted fuel for the generators is jeopardizing the functionality of crucial medical equipment. Ventilators and the incubators inside the hospital are at risk of shutting down.

Officials have warned that the Nasser Hospital and European Hospital in southern Khan Younis, as well as Al-Aqsa Hospital are at imminent risk of shutting down because of the lack of electricity. Fuel donated by UN agencies is only enough to keep Al-Aqsa Hospital running for 24 hours.

Without any solution in sight and without the sufficient flow of fuel, Gaza’s starved health facilities will soon turn into graveyards for wounded and sick Palestinians, who need them to continue working in order to save lives.

Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said there are 15 newborns in incubators at Nasser Hospital’s neonatal intensive care unit, who are all dependent on electricity provided by fuel generators. “Without fuel, these newborns are at risk of losing their lives,” said Pascale Coissard, MSF’s emergency coordinator.

“The babies in incubators rely on constant electricity for the ventilators that are keeping them alive. They are already in an extremely vulnerable state, and any transfer to other hospitals would directly endanger their lives,” she continued. “Putting the lives of children at risk like this is unacceptable and is a consequence of Israel’s ongoing blockade and continuous criminal looting of lifesaving supplies.”