Two Gaza hospitals curtailed essential services amid fuel shortages, while Israeli crossing closures prevented ill Palestinians from leaving for treatment.
Key Developments
- Al-Wafa Hospital suspended outpatient clinics, surgeries and several rehabilitation services.
- Kuwait Specialized Field Hospital also reduced services because of fuel shortages.
- Gaza’s Health Ministry said medical evacuations were halted for a second consecutive day after Israel closed the Rafah and Kerem Shalom crossings.
Two Gaza hospitals curtailed essential services amid fuel shortages, while Israeli crossing closures prevented ill Palestinians from leaving for treatment.
Al-Wafa Hospital for Medical Rehabilitation and Specialized Surgery announced on Monday that it had temporarily suspended several services because of a severe shortage of fuel and maintenance supplies.
The announcement came one day after Kuwait Specialized Field Hospital said it, too, had reduced services because of insufficient fuel, according to Quds News Network.
At the same time, Gaza’s Health Ministry said patients and wounded Palestinians had been prevented from leaving the Strip for treatment for a second consecutive day after Israel closed the Rafah and Kerem Shalom crossings during Jewish holidays, Anadolu reported.
The developments placed further pressure on patients who depend on functioning hospitals inside Gaza or need specialized treatment abroad.
Surgeries Suspended
Al-Wafa said it had temporarily suspended outpatient clinics, surgical operations, external physical and occupational therapy, speech therapy and services for patients with swallowing difficulties.
The hospital said shortages of diesel and other fuel had affected its generators and vehicles. It also reported difficulty obtaining oil, tires, spare parts and other materials needed to maintain medical equipment and essential operations.
The reduction in services was intended to conserve remaining resources for hospitalized patients and care that could not be interrupted, the hospital said. It warned that its operational and humanitarian situation had reached an extremely dangerous stage.
Al-Wafa provides medical and rehabilitation services to patients, wounded people and people with disabilities, many of whom require continuing treatment. Further shortages could force additional cuts and threaten the hospital’s ability to keep operating, it warned.
The hospital called on the World Health Organization, the United Nations and humanitarian and health organizations to urgently provide fuel, oil, spare parts and other operational supplies.
Gaza’s hospitals have relied heavily on generators since the loss of regular electricity during Israel’s war on the Strip. Running out of fuel affects medical equipment, patient care and the ability to transport people requiring treatment.
20 Facilities at Risk
Gaza Health Ministry Director-General Dr. Munir al-Bursh said the World Health Organization had decided to stop supplying diesel to more than 20 hospitals and health centers beginning September 19 because of a funding shortage, according to QNN.
Al-Bursh said the limited fuel entering Gaza barely kept health facilities operating. Shortages of generator oil and replacement parts had already caused some facilities to stop working, he added.
For its part, Gaza’s Government Media Office accused Israel of failing to meet its obligations under the ceasefire agreement in effect since October 2025, including provisions concerning the entry of agreed quantities of aid and fuel.
Patients Unable to Leave
Gaza’s Health Ministry said no patients or wounded people had been evacuated through Rafah or Kerem Shalom on Sunday or Monday.
“For the second consecutive day, no patients or wounded people have been evacuated through the Rafah and Kerem Shalom crossings because of holidays observed by the occupation,” the ministry said, according to Anadolu.
Israel’s coordinator of government activities in the Palestinian territories said the crossings were closed on both days because of the holidays.
The closures followed a separate reduction in departures. On Thursday, Israeli authorities cut the number of patients, wounded people and companions scheduled to travel to Egypt from 136 to 61, according to an earlier Gaza Health Ministry statement.
The ministry described that decision as “a blatant violation of the right to treatment” and warned that delays could put patients awaiting specialized care at risk. It urged the WHO, the UN humanitarian chief and other international organizations to press for medical departures to resume.
According to the ministry, 20,719 patients and wounded people remained on the waiting list to leave Gaza for treatment. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in late August that thousands of patients still required urgent medical evacuation.
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(PC, QNN, Anadolu)
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