The Palestinian Association for Human Rights (witness) is monitoring, with extreme concern, reports from the field indicating a rapid and catastrophic collapse of the healthcare system in the Gaza Strip. The critical shortages of medical supplies have reached unprecedented levels, signaling an impending humanitarian disaster.
According to the latest data, the medical sector is facing near-zero inventory for life-saving services. The deficit in essential medicines has reached 47%, medical consumables 59%, and laboratory diagnostic materials a staggering 87%.
(witness) emphasizes that the depletion of cancer medications, blood disease treatments, and dialysis supplies constitutes a "slow death sentence" for thousands of patients. This is a flagrant violation of Article 12 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), which guarantees every human being the right to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health.
Furthermore, the loss of 87% of laboratory diagnostic materials renders the diagnosis of critical conditions impossible, forcing medical interventions in operating rooms and intensive care units to proceed under extremely hazardous conditions, lacking the most basic medical safety standards.
(witness) stresses that the continued obstruction of medical supplies, fuel, and diagnostic materials is a deliberate policy of restriction, which directly contradicts the Fourth Geneva Convention, which obligates the Occupying Power to ensure the provision of food and medical supplies to the civilian population.
Accordingly, the Palestinian Association for Human Rights (witness) demands the following:
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WHO and the International Community: Immediate action and serious pressure to open permanent, unconditional humanitarian corridors for the flow of medicines, medical consumables, and laboratory materials.
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International Relief Organizations: Intensify emergency efforts and provide direct support to laboratories, primary healthcare, dialysis, and oncology services to prevent further fatalities caused by the lack of resources.
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ICRC: Fulfill its mandate to inspect the health situation within hospitals and issue urgent reports regarding the life-threatening risks faced by the wounded and sick.
Palestinian Association for Human Rights (witness)May 19, 2026