GAZA, (PIC)
The Nasser Medical Complex in the Gaza Strip has warned of “dangerous and rapid” developments threatening the continuity of health services, after one of the main electric generators failed due to a severe shortage of oils and spare parts, amid almost total reliance on alternative energy sources.
The Director General of the complex, Atef Al-Hout, said during a press conference held today, Sunday, inside the complex, that the current crisis is one of the most serious challenges facing the health sector, in light of the increasing pressure on limited capabilities and the almost permanent power outage.
Al-Hout explained that the failure of the main generator represents a severe blow to the medical work system, given its reliance on operating vital departments, including operating rooms, intensive care units, emergency, and infant incubators, stressing that these departments cannot tolerate any interruption in the electric current, even for a few seconds, because they rely on life-saving devices.
He pointed out that the intensive use of generators during the past period, in light of the power outage, led to a large consumption of oils and spare parts, without the availability of alternatives or the possibility of entering the necessary supplies, which hindered periodic maintenance operations and increased the probability of sudden breakdowns.
He indicated that medical and engineering teams are working in exceptional conditions, seeking to operate the remaining generators and distribute loads on an emergency basis to maintain a minimum level of services, however, these measures remain temporary and do not guarantee the continuity of work in the event of additional breakdowns.
Al-Hout warned that the continuation of the crisis without urgent intervention may lead to a partial collapse in the health system inside the complex, which threatens the lives of hundreds of patients, especially critical cases that depend on ventilators and vital monitoring.
He called on relevant authorities and international institutions to move immediately to provide urgent needs of oils and spare parts, and support the energy sector in health facilities, confirming that the situation has reached a critical stage, and that the coming hours and days will be decisive in determining the fate of health services inside the complex.
Gaza Center: Shortage of fuel, spare parts paralyzes health, humanitarian work
Meanwhile, the Gaza Center for Human Rights expressed its deep concern over the Israeli occupation authorities’ escalation of the siege policy in the Gaza Strip, by expanding the list of prohibited materials to include engine oils, spare parts, and mechanical maintenance supplies, under the pretext of “dual-use materials.”
The center warned in a statement on Sunday, that this ban does not target a commercial commodity, but rather affects the technical artery on which hospitals, ambulances, water wells, bakeries, and relief trucks depend.
The rights center reported that its field teams monitored the breakdown of dozens of vehicles and machines belonging to health and relief institutions as a result of running out of engine oils, hydraulic materials, and filters, stating that with the absence of original alternatives, technical teams work with temporary means that do not guarantee sustainability, which doubles the possibilities of catastrophic breakdowns.
It explained that in the health sector, hospitals rely entirely on huge electric generators that operate for long hours daily in light of the general power outage, pointing out that these generators require changing oils and filters according to precise maintenance schedules.
It confirmed that the acute shortage led to stopping one of the main generators in the Nasser Medical Complex, one of the largest medical facilities in the southern Strip, and resorting to operating generators with less capacity to feed specific departments and for rationed hours, stressing that this measure does not provide a safe solution, but rather puts operating rooms, intensive care, and infant incubators under the threat of sudden power outage.
The center pointed out that the crisis extends to ambulance and civil defense vehicles, as a large number of them have gone out of service as a result of the wear and tear of engines and cooling systems and the depletion of original oils.
It warned that with the escalation and continuation of the Israeli bombing and the increasing numbers of wounded, the breakdown of one single ambulance means a delay that may lead to the loss of life. The Gaza Center for Human Rights recalled that since 7 October 2023, the Israeli occupation authorities have imposed strict restrictions on the entry of basic goods, including industrial oils and spare parts, and this ban has worsened in recent weeks.
According to the statement, this ban threatens the operation of water wells, sewage stations, bakeries, transportation, and small projects.
It noted that due to the total scarcity in the markets, the price of a liter of industrial oil jumped from about 50 shekels before the war to nearly 1300 shekels currently, if available.
It also pointed to the almost complete disappearance of spare parts, which pushed workshop and bakery owners to dismantle broken machines to use their parts to repair other equipment, in a scene reflecting the collapse of the technical infrastructure of daily life.
The rights center noted that United Nations agencies and international organizations rely on a fleet of trucks and vehicles to transport food, water, and medical supplies, and with the breakdown of these machines, the ability to distribute the already limited aid shrinks, and indicators of food insecurity accelerate.
It warned that disrupting supply chains in this way exacerbates the risks of famine and undermines any effective humanitarian response, and means that Israel deliberately keeps more than two million people hostage to humanitarian crises, famine, and fear in the framework of the largest operation of revenge and collective punishment, representing at its peak a comprehensive genocide operation.
It stressed that depriving hospital generators or ambulance engines of a single drop of fuel or oil is not a passing administrative measure, but rather a decision whose consequences transcend administrative borders to touch the essence of the right to life and dignity, warning that proceeding with this ban leads the health system toward a total collapse, whose human losses will be more terrible than any description.
The Gaza Center for Human Rights stressed that preventing the entry of maintenance supplies necessary for operating health facilities and relief means constitutes a grave breach of the obligations of the occupying power under the Fourth Geneva Convention, especially Article (59) which obligates it to facilitate the passage of humanitarian supplies to the civilian population.
It also pointed out that the use of administrative restrictions to cause paralysis in basic services falls within the framework of prohibited collective punishment, and constitutes one of the tools of internationally forbidden starvation when used to weaken the population’s ability to survive and endure.
It stressed that depriving hospitals of the technical ability to operate their generators, and preventing ambulances from maintenance, cannot be justified by general security considerations, but reflects a systematic pattern aimed at undermining the pillars of civil life.
Based on this, the center demanded the international community to exercise immediate and effective pressure on Israel to enter engine oils, spare parts, and mechanical supplies necessary exclusively for the health and humanitarian sectors without restrictions.
It also urged the United Nations to prepare an urgent technical report determining the impact of banning these materials on the continuity of health services and supply chains.
It demanded that the Peace Council and the structures emanating from the ceasefire agreement take a position on what is happening and move to assume their responsibilities toward the catastrophic humanitarian situation that is worsening in the Gaza Strip after six months of the ceasefire agreement and about 30 months from the start of the widest genocide crime in the modern era.
The center finally called on the Office of the Prosecutor at the International Criminal Court to include the policy of systematic disruption of basic services within the scope of the investigation into crimes committed against the civilian population in the Gaza Strip.
