Rafah, Gaza, Experiences A Growing Healthcare Crisis Amid Israeli Military Action

The Israeli military’s assault against Hamas has resulted in an influx of patients that is overwhelming medical facilities in Rafah.

As the Israeli military carries out a “limited” assault against Hamas, medical facilities in the over a million residents of the southern Gaza city of Rafah are overburdened and people face the possibility of being without healthcare.

The biggest hospital in Rafah, Abu Youssef al-Najjar, had to be ordered to evacuate quickly due to surrounding fighting.

The restriction of border crossings impedes access to essential medical services, particularly to the European Gaza Hospital located in Khan Younis. Referrals for procedures are disrupted by this shutdown, worsening an already critical situation.

The surge of patients is causing problems for the Kuwaiti Specialist Hospital and the Emirati Maternity Hospital in Rafah. With an increase in emergency cases, the Kuwaiti hospital, which was understaffed and ill-equipped prior to the conflict, finds it difficult to offer proper care. Conversely, dozens of infants are delivered daily by Emiratis.

The head of the Kuwaiti hospital, Dr. Jamal al-Hams, calls the state of affairs “catastrophic.” Due to Israeli shelling and limited border crossings, the hospital is small and devoid of key equipment, including diagnostic capabilities.

The medical personnel are treating cases of severe and unprecedented injuries, which range from amputations to complex trauma wounds. The distinct characteristics of these injuries’ present additional difficulties for overworked medical personnel.

We have received cases of skull fractures with pieces of the brain inside the skull as well as cases of torn abdomens and intestines. Along with occurrences of lower limb amputation at the foot area, other patients have lost significant portions of their buttocks, according to Dr. Hams.

“These are unusual injuries caused by unusual weapons,” he continued. Every case requires multiple experts.

He was upset that physicians at the al-Najjar hospital had been abruptly compelled to leave both the hospital and their houses. “Where should they go?” asked Dr. Hams.

The situation is made worse by the forced removal of inhabitants and medical professionals from eastern Rafah. Evacuees are left trapped without support when the Israeli military directs them to designated “humanitarian areas,” despite promises of aid and support not materializing.