Published on 4/30/2026
The health system in the Gaza Strip is facing the risk of a severe crisis in oxygen supplies, in light of the destruction of most production stations and the prevention of the entry of spare parts, which threatens the lives of patients, especially in intensive care departments and nurseries.
In front of the main oxygen station in the northern Gaza Strip, Al Jazeera Mubasher correspondent Moaz Al-Amour monitors the extent of the deterioration that has befallen the health infrastructure. This station was established by collecting parts of other stations destroyed by the Israeli occupation forces since the beginning of the war, in an attempt to maintain the minimum oxygen supply necessary to save the lives of patients.
According to statistics from the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza, the Strip included 34 oxygen stations before the war, but the occupation forces destroyed 22 of these stations that fed hospitals, while only 12 stations remained.
The correspondent points out that these stations face the risk of stopping in light of the occupation’s refusal to bring in the equipment needed to maintain them, and they do not meet the increasing needs of patients in hospitals.
Among the stations threatened with closure is the central station at the Shifa Medical Complex in Gaza City, in light of the frequent malfunctions it is exposed to and the Israeli restrictions on the crossings.
Systematic targeting
Director of the Maintenance Department at the Palestinian Ministry of Health, Engineer Mazen Al-Araysha, says that the occupation systematically destroyed the health system with all its components, including oxygen stations, which constitute the lifeline for intensive care departments, nurseries, operations, and patients with chest diseases and tumors.
He added that the failure to bring in spare parts since the beginning of the war, including routine parts needed for maintenance, represents a direct threat to the continued operation of these stations, warning that this reality heralds a real humanitarian disaster, especially for patients who depend primarily on oxygen to survive.
“Certain death”
The director of the maintenance department at the Palestinian Ministry of Health explains that only one station may serve about 150 patients who depend on filling oxygen cylinders in their homes, noting that interrupting the supply to them means “certain death,” in the absence of alternatives.
In an attempt to remedy the crisis, the Ministry of Health in Gaza addressed various international institutions, and Al-Araysha points out that there is a stock of spare parts in the West Bank that was previously funded, but bringing it into the Gaza Strip is still subject to obtaining Israeli approval, which has not yet been issued.
The Palestinian official appealed to international bodies, led by the World Health Organization, to exert pressure to allow the entry of these parts, warning that the continuation of the current situation may lead to the stations stopping completely.
According to Al-Araysha, efforts to purchase new oxygen stations through the World Health Organization also faltered due to not obtaining the necessary permits to bring them into the sector, despite the urgent need to replace the current stations that are subject to rapid consumption due to increasing pressure.
