‘I got a phone call two weeks after she died’: thousands of Gaza patients are still waiting to be released

The desperation of patients has plagued Gaza’s hospitals – their outer walls have been damaged by shelling and Israeli attacks, while the health care system inside remains unrepaired.

Eight months after a ceasefire ordered “full aid” to be sent to the Gaza Strip, aid workers continue to lack essential drugs and equipment, with doctors sharing or borrowing from each other or turning away patients from chemotherapy or dialysis appointments.

Pat Griffiths, a spokesman for the International Committee of the Red Cross in Jerusalem, said: “The fact that the list of medical evacuations is in the thousands is a sign that people in Gaza are not getting what they should have – Israel has an obligation under international humanitarian law to allow them.”

The shortages range from basic necessities like gauze dressings and pain relievers to high-end medical equipment, he said.

“There’s no doubt in my mind that people in Gaza are dying because they can’t get the care they need — and there are preventable deaths because of the limitations that come with health care.”

Asked about reports of severe shortages, Kogat said in a statement that 17,000 tons of medicine and medical aid have entered Gaza since the ceasefire; These include wheelchairs, cancer drugs, insulin pens, anesthetics, X-ray machines, CT scanners, dialysis machines and medical supplies.

Despite claims to the contrary, Israel approves all drug requests made by international aid organizations, he said.

In response, a humanitarian official, who spoke to me on condition of anonymity, said Israeli officials often use metaphors to hide shortages of key medicines and equipment, and aid supplies continue to be limited.

“You don’t count medical aid in terms of trucks and pallets, that’s not the label we use,” said WHO’s Reinhilde van de Weerd. “We talk about the needs that patients have and the needs that are being met.”

“If medical supply is unlimited, you don’t have these conversations about what’s given versus what’s needed,” she says. “We need a certain level of storage of medical supplies, and you can’t run a hospital hoping the generator doesn’t break down.”