GAZA, (PIC)
Inside the corridors of the Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Yunis city, south of the Gaza Strip, doctors and nurses anxiously monitor oxygen and artificial respiration indicators amid a worsening crisis that threatens to cut off oxygen supplies to one of the largest operating hospitals in the Strip.
In the neonatology department, premature babies lie inside glass incubators, connected to oxygen tubes that help them breathe, while their mothers watch the movement of the devices with concern for fear of supply disruption.
As for the intensive care units, patients rely on artificial respiration machines that keep them alive, amidst repeated alarm signals resulting from low oxygen pressure, at a time when medical teams are trying to avoid any potential interruption, according to what Anadolu Agency documented in a field report from inside the Nasser Medical Complex.
The Nasser Complex includes two oxygen generation stations, the main one of which has gone out of service during the recent period due to technical failures and the depletion of oils, while the alternative station operates with limited capacity and faces the risk of stopping at any time, according to the Director of the Engineering and Maintenance Department at the complex, Ismail Abu Nimer.
In a scene reflecting the scale of this crisis, dozens of empty oxygen cylinders line up in the hospital courtyard, waiting to be refilled, amid increasing fears that the crisis will reach the stage of complete inability to meet the needs of sensitive departments.
For more than once, the Ministry of Health in the Strip warned of the danger of Israel preventing the entry of medicines, supplies, medical devices, and related items, and the catastrophic repercussions of this on the provision of services and the lives of patients.
Official Palestinian reports have also previously warned of the risks of Israel preventing the entry of necessary spare parts for the maintenance of devices, machinery, and vehicles providing vital services to citizens in the Strip.
Death sentence
The director of the children and maternity building at the Nasser complex, Ahmed al-Farra, said that the hospital is experiencing a “state of slow suffocation.” He confirmed that the continuation of the oxygen crisis threatens the lives of hundreds of patients, especially premature babies and intensive care patients.
Al-Farra added in a conversation with Anadolu Agency, “Oxygen is the lifeline inside hospitals, especially for children in incubators, intensive care patients, and operating rooms, as these depend on it completely.”
He warned that the breakdown of oxygen stations means a “real disaster and a death sentence for hundreds of patients,” calling on the international community to intervene urgently before the service collapses completely.
Risk of stopping
For his part, the Director of the Engineering and Maintenance Department at the complex, Ismail Abu Nimer, said that the hospital relies on oxygen stations to supply patients residing within its departments, in addition to providing medical cylinders to field hospitals and other health institutions.
He confirmed that the main station for oxygen production went out of service as a result of the wear and tear of parts and the depletion of special operating oils, without specifying the date it went out of service.
He stressed that the second station inside the complex operates with “limited capacity, and faces the risk of stopping at any time.”
Regarding the nature of the failures, Abu Nimer said that the Nasser Complex, like other hospitals in the Strip, has faced difficulty for years in bringing in spare parts and oils necessary for the maintenance of these stations, which forced technical teams to use local alternatives “that do not meet specifications.”
He pointed out that the use of these alternatives caused additional breakdowns and damage to the pumps, confirming that technical teams are working with limited capabilities to try to keep the service running.
Imminent disaster
This crisis in the Nasser Complex is an extension of the state of almost complete collapse in the health sector, especially regarding the work of oxygen generation stations, as the Ministry of Health warned on 28 April of the danger of the stoppage of the only working station in the Gaza and North governorates.
The Ministry said in a statement at the time, “This station constitutes the primary source for supplying patients, especially chronic ones, with medical oxygen, in addition to what it provides for the needs of non-governmental institutions working in the health field.”
It explained that the station also suffers from “repeated breakdowns as a result of great pressure and long operating hours, in light of the lack of sufficient alternatives, which threatens the interruption of medical oxygen supplies and exposes the lives of patients to serious risks.”
It warned of an imminent humanitarian disaster coinciding with the worsening risk of the station stopping, which is accompanied by the increasing need of hospitals and health centers for oxygen.
The Ministry demanded all concerned parties and international institutions to intervene quickly to bring in new oxygen generation stations and ensure the sustainability of providing health facilities with medical oxygen, so as to ensure the protection of patients’ lives and the continuity of providing health services.
Destruction of 25 stations
According to data from the Ministry of Health in the Strip, Israel destroyed during two years of genocide about 25 oxygen production stations out of 34 stations, according to a statement it published in October 2025.
The Ministry explained, in separate data, that the destruction of these stations took place during the Israeli army’s storming of hospitals, during its ground military operations within the framework of the war of genocide.
It also reported, in a statement published in May 2025, that only about nine stations remained operational in the Strip, confirming that they operate partially and do not meet the needs of patients.
During the months of genocide, Israel deliberately targeted the health sector, including hospitals, facilities, and health centers, in addition to targeting medical teams and ambulances.
With this destruction, the oxygen availability crisis is worsening today amidst Israel’s disavowal of its obligations stipulated in the ceasefire agreement, in effect since 10 October 2025, including opening the crossings and bringing in the agreed-upon quantities of medical aid and what relates to this sector.
Israel also violates the agreement by maintaining daily shelling and shooting, which has so far resulted in the martyrdom of at least 854 Palestinians and the injury of 2,453 others, according to Ministry of Health data.
