Health situation in Gaza catastrophic, painful: Hamas-run Health Ministry

Gaza, Jan 22: The Gaza-based Health Ministry has said that the health situation in the Strip is "catastrophic and painful" amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict.

"The Israeli army deliberately strangles and destroys the health system," the Ministry's Spokesperson Ashraf Al-Qedra said on Sunday in a press statement.

"The accumulation of cases and the lack of treatment facilities in hospitals accelerate the loss of lives," he said, adding that "hospitals in the southern Gaza Strip are unable to provide health services normally, and the situation is exceeding their capacity".

The Spokesperson noted that 70 per cent of the medical aid that entered the enclave is outside the scope of the basic needs of local hospitals, and 99 medical personnel are still under the detention of Israeli forces, Xinhua news agency reported.

Earlier on Sunday, the Ministry said that the Palestinian death toll due to the ongoing conflict has risen to 25,105 since October 7, 2023.

Meanwhile, large parts of the enclave are witnessing violent clashes between Palestinian fighters and the Israeli army, while Israeli warplanes and artillery are targetting various areas in the neighbourhoods and cities of the strip.

Local residents told Xinhua that sounds of explosions and intense clashes had been heard since Sunday morning across the Palestinian territory, including Gaza City, Jabalia City and Beit Lahia city in the north, the neighbourhoods of Ma'an, Bani Suhaila, and Abasan, east of the southern city of Khan Younis, and the Bureij refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip.