Ramallah, December 07 (QNA) - The Palestinian Ministry of Health confirmed Sunday that zero balances of medicines and medical consumables continue to exceed precarious levels, with 52 percent of the essential medicines list, 71 percent of the medical consumables lists, and 70 percent of the laboratory consumables showing zero stock.

In a statement, the ministry noted that the crisis is following an escalating trajectory, as the need for therapeutic interventions for the wounded and patients increases, emphasizing that primary care, surgery, operations, intensive care, cancer treatment, and hematology services are suffering from severe shortages in their medicine's lists.

It highlighted that the departments of orthopedic surgery, kidney care and dialysis, ophthalmology, general surgery, operations, and intensive care face catastrophic challenges due to the shortage of medical consumables, calling for the urgent reinforcement of medical supplies to enable medical teams in specialized departments to continue their work.

The Ministry of Health's indebtedness amounts to approximately 3 billion shekels (around USD800 million), most of which is owed to private and charitable hospitals, according to official statements.

The indebtedness has worsened due to the onslaught by the Israeli occupation on Gaza and the West Bank, which has severely affected Palestinian government revenues due to the increased deductions from Palestinian tax funds (clearing) by the occupation, on which the government depends for the majority of its cash liquidity.

Since Oct.7, 2023, the Israeli occupation has deducted approximately 45 percent of the total clearing funds. (QNA)