Gaza Hospitals Overwhelmed as Aid Flotilla Reports Targeted Attacks

The humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip has reached a breaking point, with the few remaining medical facilities completely overwhelmed by an influx of injured and displaced civilians, while offshore, an aid flotilla attempting to deliver supplies is reportedly under attack.

According to The Guardian, the remaining hospitals in Gaza are at their absolute “limit,” struggling to cope with a “tsunami of patients” as thousands of people continue to flee south. The medical infrastructure, severely damaged and strained by the ongoing conflict, is rapidly collapsing under the pressure of the overwhelming number of casualties and internal displacement.

Hospitals and clinics in central and southern Gaza are overwhelmed by a surge of injured and sick patients fleeing the Israeli offensive in northern Gaza. Medical staff at Nasser medical complex in Khan Younis and field hospitals in al-Muwasi struggle with large numbers of arrivals, many with blast and bullet wounds, malnutrition, and infections.

About 320,000 people have fled Gaza City following Israeli evacuation orders, many injured or sick. Medical facilities in northern Gaza have closed due to the offensive, increasing pressure on southern hospitals. Patients often arrive with old injuries due to difficult travel conditions. At Nasser hospital, pediatric wards are overcrowded, and staff are exhausted and low on supplies.

Israeli military has ordered evacuation of all humanitarian sites except hospitals in Gaza City. The Jordanian field hospital and other hospitals like al-Rantisi children’s hospital and the Eye hospital have suspended services. Access to hospitals is unsafe, and many patients needing dialysis have been displaced.

Israel controls Gaza’s access and claims to allow aid, but crossings remain closed, limiting humanitarian deliveries. Medical staff face extreme shortages of medicines and supplies.

The crisis is being compounded by reports of an attack on an aid flotilla at sea. The Guardian also reported that activists aboard the boats, which are carrying humanitarian supplies, are claiming their vessels are being targeted by explosions and multiple drones. Italian PM Giorgia Meloni condemned the drone attacks on the Gaza aid flotilla, as the nation is sending a navy ship to assist the mission. The flotilla, including activists like Greta Thunberg, faced multiple drone attacks with no injuries. Israel accuses activists of Hamas links and blocks access to Gaza.