GAZA, (PIC)
Gaza’s healthcare system is facing a looming oxygen supply crisis, as the destruction of production stations and restrictions on spare parts threaten the lives of patients, particularly those in intensive care units and neonatal wards.
The scale of the damage is evident at the main oxygen station in northern Gaza, which has been assembled from parts salvaged from other facilities destroyed during the war in an effort to maintain minimal supplies.
According to Gaza’s Health Ministry, the territory had 34 oxygen stations before the war. Israeli attacks have destroyed 22 of them, leaving just 12 operating at limited capacity, even as the number of patients in need continues to rise.
Medical sources warn that the remaining stations could stop functioning at any moment due to repeated malfunctions and the continued refusal to allow the entry of maintenance equipment. This raises the risk of severe shortages across hospitals.
Among the most vulnerable facilities is the central oxygen station at Al-Shifa Medical Complex in Gaza City, which is struggling with frequent breakdowns under tight restrictions on crossings.
Mazzen Al-Arayesheh, director of maintenance at the Health Ministry, said Israeli forces have systematically targeted key components of the healthcare system, including oxygen stations, which serve as a “lifeline” for intensive care, surgeries, neonatal care, and patients with respiratory diseases and cancer.
He added that the ban on spare parts, even those needed for routine maintenance, poses a direct threat to the continued operation of these stations, warning of an imminent humanitarian disaster, especially for patients dependent on oxygen to survive.
Al-Arayesheh noted that a single station may serve up to 150 patients who rely on oxygen cylinders at home, stressing that any interruption in supply could be fatal in the absence of alternatives.
He said the Health Ministry has contacted multiple international bodies in an effort to address the crisis, pointing out that spare parts funded and stored in the West Bank remain unable to enter Gaza due to pending Israeli approval.
The official also called on international organizations, particularly the World Health Organization (WHO), to intervene and pressure for the entry of essential equipment, warning that continued delays could lead to a total shutdown of oxygen stations.
Efforts to procure new oxygen facilities through the WHO have also stalled due to a lack of permits, despite the urgent need to replace existing stations that are rapidly deteriorating under heavy demand.
