Gaza, February 16 (QNA) - Palestinian Ministry of Health in the Gaza Strip has warned of the serious and rapid degeneration of the health situation in the enclave, stressing that it has reached catastrophic levels that threaten the right to life and health for over two million Palestinians.

It further cautioned that this situation continues to worsen amid the persistent restrictions imposed on the medical system and targeting its fundamental components after more than two years of a war of extermination.

Director General of Hospitals at Ministry of Health in the Gaza Strip, Dr. Mohammed Zaqout, told Qatar News Agency (QNA) that what is transpiring in the enclave has no longer become a random health crisis, but rather a direct result of Israeli methodical policies that have led to the decomposition of the health system, converting the remaining operating hospitals into forced waiting zones for thousands of patients and wounded people who are facing an unknown fate.

The devastating impact of genocide has made the provision of healthcare a daily miracle and a formidable challenge in front of recovery efforts and the restoration of numerous specialized services, Zaqout pointed out.

Zaqout elaborated that over 20,000 patients are waiting to be treated abroad, clarifying that the partial operation of Rafah Crossing does not cater to Gazans considering the humanitarian crisis they are facing, as it continues to function in a limited and restricted capacity amid the worsening health and humanitarian conditions in the Gaza Strip.

Operating Rafah crossing with this constrained mechanism, which reduces the number of travelers and decelerates medical evacuation procedures, poses a direct threat to thousands of patients, contributing to the perilous aggravation of the humanitarian and health situation, as well as putting the international community before its legal and moral responsibility, Zaqout said.

He called for the permanent and regular operation of Rafah Crossing to ensure the freedom of traffic for both patients and injured Palestinians without restrictions or delay, so as to immediately evacuate them, alongside those with critical cases, in addition to proportionately increasing the number of travelers based on the mounting medical needs in the Strip.

Addressing Gaza's medical reality and the deepening shortage of medicines and supplies, Zaqout said that "stock-zero" levels of drugs and medical consumables have turned even basic painkillers into a luxury for people facing death by the minute.

He warned that 46 percent of essential medicines, 66 percent of medical consumables, and 84 percent of laboratory and blood-bank materials are now completely depleted, stressing that the continued halt in laboratory supply deliveries is compounding the crisis in labs and blood banks, threatening to shut them down altogether.

Zaqout further added that a range of laboratory tests are now at risk of a complete standstill, including complete blood count (CBC) services, coagulation factor testing, blood gas analysis, microbiology, and cancer diagnostics, stressing that oncology, hematology, surgery, operating rooms, intensive care, and primary health care are among the hardest-hit services.

Zaqout noted that the limited quantities of medicines reaching Gaza's hospitals fall far short of actual needs and are insufficient to sustain health services, clarifying that the situation on the ground in Gaza regarding the provision of healthcare services resembles a daily miracle amid the lack of any true prospect for recovery or restoration of specialized medical services, as long as health enterprises and paramedics are intentionally targeted by the ongoing Israeli war on Gaza.

The Israeli occupation still keeps detaining dozens of trained and qualified medical operators who had undertaken a pivotal role during the war by being at the forefront of lines treating wounded and patients despite shelling and shortages of resources, Zaqout pointed out.

Most of those medical operators had been detained from inside hospitals while discharging their humanitarian duty and were exposed to harsh and inhumane treatment in an unequivocal violation of all international norms and laws that guarantee their protection, Zaqout noted.

He called on human rights and UN organizations, as well as all relevant entities, to urgently intervene and press for the immediate release of detained medical operators inside the occupation's prisons and ensure their protection so they can perform this humanitarian mission free from targeting or clampdowns.

Zaqout further noted that restoring the health situation in Gaza hospitals cannot rely on temporary emergency measures that accumulate menacing impacts, stressing that the crumbling health reality in Gaza requires an urgent and effective international response.

The health sector in Gaza is facing a severe and suffocating crisis amid the persistent ban on access to medicines and medical essentials, along with the Israeli targeting of medical crews through murder and detention throughout the two-year war on the Strip, as well as the methodical devastation of key hospitals.

These facts are corroborated by reports from the UN and human rights institutions, which gave a heads-up about the impending all-out collapse of the health system, rendering it incapable of meeting the needs of Gaza amid the staggering upsurge in the number of patients and wounded people, triggering the need for urgent medical interventions. (QNA)