Rebuilding health services in Gaza won’t be possible while Israel maintains blockade, says report

The efforts of healthcare workers in the Gaza Strip and over 30 outside agencies have helped “to maintain continuity of services despite constant crises” in the region, a report has said. But rebuilding of the health service in Gaza will be impossible while Israel maintains its blockade on the area, it concluded.

Gaza’s post-conflict health infrastructure has been surveyed by the Health Cluster in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, a collaboration of the World Health Organization, the Palestinian ministry of health, and 32 other healthcare providers working in the region.1

They have reported that of 86 hospitals and primary care clinics assessed by the group, 73 sustained damage in the recent conflict in July and August. The evacuated al-Wafa Rehabilitation Hospital was completely destroyed from the air,2 and seven clinics were destroyed or damaged beyond repair, …