Generator Fuel and Supply Crisis in Gaza Threatens Healthcare Services

According to the statement by the Ministry of Health in Gaza, 70% of the generators meeting the electricity needs of health facilities are unusable due to a lack of oil and spare parts. It was reported that critical units, particularly the Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, face the risk of being left without electricity.

The Ministry of Health in the Gaza Strip announced that 70% of the generators in hospitals cannot be operated due to the absence of oil and spare parts. At Nasser Hospital in the southern city of Khan Younis, maintenance oils cannot be procured due to supply bottlenecks caused by the Israeli blockade. This situation endangers vital departments such as operating rooms, neonatal units, and intensive care services. While there is a need for more than 2,500 liters of fuel per month to keep generators operational, depleting stocks deepen the crisis.

Engineer Hamd al-Najjar, Head of the Mechanical Department at Nasser Hospital, stated that generators have been the hospital's only source of electricity since the beginning of the war because energy cannot be obtained from the main grid. Al-Najjar expressed that due to unprocurable oils, they have had to recycle previously used and degraded oils to use in generators, which leads to internal parts wearing out and overheating.

At the MSF field hospital in Deir al-Balah, a generator broke down on August 5; surgical operations were limited to critical cases, while sterilization and X-ray services were suspended. In addition, the main generator of the al-Ahli Baptist Hospital in Gaza city went out of service on September 10, bringing computed tomography and medical imaging services to a halt. The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) also emphasized in its statement on October 19 that the shortage of fuel, engine oil, and spare parts threatens treatments for dialysis, cancer, and chronic diseases.