Israel’s Attacks Leave Half of Al-Shifa Dialysis Machines Inoperable, Threatening 240 Patients

Nearly half of the dialysis machines at Gaza’s largest hospital, al-Shifa Medical Complex, have stopped working as Israel’s blockade and repeated attacks continue to cripple the enclave’s health system.

“The Health Ministry in the Gaza Strip warned of serious health consequences after about half of the dialysis machines at the Al-Shifa Medical Complex stopped functioning, while Israeli forces continued to breach the ceasefire and launched new attacks that killed six Palestinians and injured dozens”

Al-Jazeera Net

Dr Ghazi al-Yaziji, head of the artificial kidney department at al-Shifa, said a severe shortage of sodium bicarbonate forced 25 machines out of service, leaving only 26 operating and even then only partially.

Al-Jazeera Net

Medical teams have had to shorten dialysis sessions from four hours to three and cut weekly treatment sessions from three to two, al-Yaziji said.

He warned that the cuts are putting about 240 patients with Stage 5 chronic kidney failure at serious risk, with increased danger of heart and respiratory complications that could prove fatal in some cases.

The Health Ministry in the Gaza Strip warned of serious health consequences after about half the dialysis machines at al-Shifa stopped functioning, as Israeli forces continued to breach the ceasefire and launched new attacks that killed six Palestinians and injured dozens.

In a separate account focused on Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, Médecins sans frontières said the Israeli army besieged and attacked the facility, which had previously been the largest in the southern Gaza Strip.

MSF said that during the night of February 14 to 15, 2024, an Israeli artillery shell hit the orthopedic department, killing one person and wounding eight, after Israeli forces stormed the hospital at dawn on February 15.

Middle East Eye

MSF described how, after evacuation orders issued on January 23 for blocks 107 to 112 including Nasser Hospital, the facility became at the heart of intense fighting where no one could enter or leave without risking their life.

MSF also reported that by February 8, sniper fire directed at the hospital caused several deaths and injuries, and that on February 13 an evacuation order concerning displaced people who had taken shelter inside Nasser was issued by the Israeli army.

In Al-Jazeera Net’s account of continued violence, an Israeli drone carried out an air strike targeting a crowd around Umm al-Fahm School in Beit Lahia, and a medical official at Shifa Hospital confirmed it killed Muath Mohammed Ahmed (20) and Wael Mahmoud Labed (26) and wounded a third person seriously.

Al-Jazeera Net reported that travel by a number of patients in Gaza via the Rafah crossing for treatment abroad was canceled because they did not obtain security approvals from the Israeli occupation, according to the Health Ministry in the territory.

“During the night of February 14 to 15, 2024, Nasser Hospital, previously the largest in the southern Gaza Strip, was struck by an Israeli army artillery shell hitting the orthopedic department, killing one person and wounding eight”

Médecins sans frontières

The same source said the ministry submitted about 70 life-saving cases urgently, but only 5 cases obtained the necessary security approvals to travel.

It also warned that Israel obstructs travel of 17,000 Palestinians who hold medical referrals to treatment abroad, warning of rising deaths among patients.

MSF’s account of Nasser Hospital emphasized that as the Israeli army advances in the Gaza Strip, MSF said it had to evacuate several health centers in the north and was forced to work mainly in the south because it could no longer operate elsewhere, adding, "We are obliged to leave patients behind."

Against that backdrop of disrupted care, Dr Ghazi al-Yaziji warned that the dialysis shortage and emergency measures—reducing sessions from four hours to three and weekly sessions from three to two—could lead to fatal heart and respiratory complications for patients with kidney failure.