The health system in the Gaza Strip is facing a severe oxygen shortage crisis, as most production plants have been destroyed and spare parts are being prevented from entering, threatening the lives of patients, especially in intensive care units and neonatal units.
From the main oxygen plant in northern Gaza, Al Jazeera observed the extent of the deterioration in the health infrastructure. This plant was built by assembling parts from other plants destroyed by Israeli occupation forces since the beginning of the war, in an attempt to maintain a minimum oxygen supply necessary to save patients’ lives.
According to statistics from the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza, the Strip had 34 oxygen plants before the war, but the occupation forces destroyed 22 of these plants, which supplied hospitals, leaving only 12 operational.
These remaining plants are at risk of shutting down due to the occupation’s refusal to allow the entry of equipment needed for their maintenance, and they are unable to meet the growing needs of patients in hospitals.
Among the plants threatened with closure is the central plant at Al-Shifa Medical Complex in Gaza City, due to frequent breakdowns and Israeli restrictions on crossings.
The Director of the Maintenance Department at the Palestinian Ministry of Health, Engineer Mazen Al-Araisha, says that the occupation has systematically targeted and destroyed the entire health system, including oxygen plants, which are vital for intensive care units, neonatal units, operating rooms, and patients with respiratory and oncological diseases.
He adds that the failure to allow the entry of spare parts since the beginning of the war, including routine maintenance parts, poses a direct threat to the continued operation of these plants. He warns that this situation portends a genuine humanitarian catastrophe, especially for patients who rely primarily on oxygen to survive.
