Authorities in the Gaza Strip have warned that the health problems of impoverished Gazans have been intensified due to a crippling four-year-old siege by Israel.

The Gaza Strip’s Ministry of Health said on Monday the crisis would continue unless Israel allowed in vital material and basic necessities, a Press TV correspondent reported.

The ministry added that local hospitals were in need of chemicals required to produce oxygen as well as spare parts for x-ray machines.

Gazans, in particular cancer patients in the region, are also suffering from lack of necessary medicines as a result of the Israeli blockade on the coastal area since June 2007.

The warning comes as Palestinians mark the second anniversary of Israel’s devastating war on the Gaza Strip in December 2008.

Tel Aviv staged an all-out war on the densely-populated coastal sliver three days before the start of 2009. The strikes left more than 1,400 Palestinians — including at least 300 children — dead and nearly 5,000 more injured.

The offensive also demolished some 4,000 houses in the blockaded territory and devastated a large portion of the region’s infrastructure. The war-hit strip also saw UN-run schools and centers targeted by Israeli army forces.

More than 50,000 people were displaced as a result of the three-week war.

(Press TV)