During the Gaza war, the healthcare system of Gaza was destroyed by Israeli attacks on hospitals and health facilities, killing of healthcare workers, and blockade of medical supplies from entering Gaza. The resulting collapse of the healthcare system was part of a broader humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip caused by the war. The hospitals faced a lack of fuel due to the Israeli siege and relied on backup generators for the first two weeks of the war. By 23 October 2023, Gaza hospitals began shutting down as they ran out of fuel, starting with the Indonesia Hospital. When hospitals lost power completely, multiple premature babies in NICUs died. By the end of May 2024, both the World Health Organization and International Rescue Committee reported only one-third of Gaza's hospitals remained at least partially operational. Numerous medical staffers were killed, and ambulances, health institutions, medical headquarters, and multiple hospitals were destroyed. The Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) said scores of ambulances and medical facilities were damaged or destroyed. By late-October, the Gaza Health Ministry stated the healthcare system had "totally collapsed", while on 13 January out of Gaza's 36 hospitals reportedly remained partially functional. By May 2024, the World Health Organization documented 450 Israeli attacks on Gaza's healthcare system.
October 2023
14 October Two upper floors of the Diagnostic Cancer Treatment Centre of the Al-Ahli Arab Hospital was severely damaged by Israeli rocket fire. Red Crescent ambulances in Gaza were struck by the IAF.
15 October WHO stated four hospitals were no longer functioning after being targeted by Israeli airstrikes. WHO described Israel's evacuation order as a "death sentence" for the sick and wounded. Doctors across northern Gaza stated they were unable to follow Israel's evacuation order, since their patients, including newborns in the ICU, would die.
16 October MSF president Christos Christou wrote that the situation in Gaza was "horrific and catastrophic… No electricity, no medical supplies. Surgeons in Al-Shifa hospital are now operating without painkillers." Doctors warned of an impending disease outbreak due to hospital overcrowding and unburied bodies. The same day, the World Health Organization stated there were only "24 hours of water, electricity and fuel left" before "a real catastrophe."
17 October A widely condemned explosion in the al-Ahli courtyard resulted in significant fatalities. An explosion at al-Ahli al-Arabi Baptist Hospital in Gaza City caused heavy casualties and triggered outrage in the Arab world.
18 October
The United States vetoed a UN resolution urging humanitarian aid to Gaza.
19 October The Ministry of Health asked for donations of liters of fuels to continue powering hospital generators. Gaza's only cancer hospital announced it had "perilously low" levels of remaining fuel. Doctors stated pediatric patients had developed gastroenteritis infections due to the lack of clean water. Airstrikes hit the area around al-Quds Hospital. The Red Cross stated Gaza's entire health system was "on its knees".
20 October Doctors Without Borders stated thousands of people were at risk of dying "within hours" because it was "impossible" to give them medical attention. Doctors at al-Quds Hospital and the Palestine Red Crescent reported they received a call from the Israeli army to evacuate the hospital or "bear the consequences".
21 October Medical Aid for Palestinians and UNICEF issued an "urgent warning" that 130 premature babies would die if fuel did not reach Gaza hospitals soon.
22 October The UN Population Fund stated there were 50,000 pregnant women in Gaza. A UN statement signed by UNDP, UNFPA, UNICEF, WFP and WHO stated deaths could soon "skyrocket" from disease and "lack of healthcare". UNRWA announced it would run out of fuel within three days, resulting in "no water, no functioning hospitals and bakeries".
23 October On 23 October, the Indonesia Hospital ran out of fuel and completely lost power. A Health Ministry spokesman announced the healthcare system had "totally collapsed", with 65 medics killed, 25 ambulances destroyed, and many hospitals soon shutting down due to lack of fuel. The World Health Organization warned 46 of Gaza's 72 healthcare facilities had stopped functioning.
25 October Dr. Ashraf al-Qudra, of the Health Ministry, stated the health system was "completely out of service". The Health Ministry stated a total of 7,000 sick and wounded hospital patients were facing death. The Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital faced a dialysis crisis, with hundreds sharing only 24 dialysis machines.
27 October A Red Cross medical team arrived in Gaza, bringing medical supplies, a war surgery team, and a weapons contamination specialist. The Al Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis received a delivery of medical supplies, including antiseptic, injections, and medical mattresses, raising hopes more could be received "in the coming days".
28 October A communications blackout meant wounded civilians could not dial emergency services. Ambulances were evenly geographically distributed to provide "faster access to the injured." Israel conducted a heavy round of airstrikes and said that it was "expanding its ground forces" in besieged Gaza. Several of these air strikes reportedly hit near the vicinity of both al-Shifa Hospital and the Indonesia Hospital.
29 October The Palestinian Red Crescent reported that it had received warnings from Israeli authorities to immediately evacuate al-Quds hospital as it was "going to be bombarded". An Israeli airstrike struck 20 metres (65 feet) from al-Quds hospital. Dr. Ghassan Abu Sitta wrote on X that he was increasingly treating patients with "distinctive phosphorus burns."
30 October The Turkish-Palestinian Friendship Hospital was severely damaged by an Israeli airstrike. WHO announced it could no longer resupply al-Shifa and al-Quds hospitals due to the high levels of risk. Israel attacked the immediate surroundings of the Indonesian Hospital in Beit Lahia.
31 October The Health Ministry announced the generators at two key Gaza hospitals were hours from shutting down. The Palestinian Health Ministry issued a last warning before the shutdown of the main electrical generator in the Al-Shifa Medical Complex, stating that there are only a few hours left before going out of service.
November 2023
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