The ongoing blockade imposed on the Gaza Strip since early March 2025 has exacerbated the suffering of all its residents, especially those with chronic illnesses. These residents lack access to healthcare, due to the lack of medical equipment and specialized hospitals, in addition to a shortage of medicines due to depleted stocks.

The closure of crossings across the Gaza Strip has cast a shadow over all aspects of life there, transforming it into an unparalleled tragedy. Residents of these cities (from north to south) are experiencing all manner of death, while survivors of direct bombardment are suffering other forms of death due to malnutrition and a lack of medical supplies and healthcare, especially for those suffering from chronic illnesses.

It's worth noting that thousands of chronically ill patients are living in displacement shelters and tents without regular medical checkups. This poses a threat to their lives, given the blockade on their movement. Furthermore, living in these tents can cause illnesses due to environmental pollution.

The suffering of displacement with illness

Palestinian refugee Fayez Abdo (67 years old) has stopped taking his medication for chronic diabetes and high blood pressure for about 7 months.

Abdo has been displaced from Al-Bureij camp to Al-Nuseirat (central) and then to Rafah (south). He currently lives in a room he built from tin sheets, along with five other families. He complains that the war has also prevented him from receiving medication for side effects caused by his diabetes and high blood pressure.

Abdo told Anadolu Agency that an Israeli bombardment targeted a house adjacent to his home before he was displaced, causing an injury to his foot, which quickly deteriorated due to his diabetes and lack of treatment. He explained that he used to receive his medication from a medical clinic in Al-Bureij camp, but now lives without the medication or food that would help boost his immune system.

He continued, "I can't walk on my feet today. Every time I try, I fall to the ground. I don't feel any balance while walking."

A whole family of chronically ill people

“I found a small space for me, my wife, and my son inside a science lab at a school housing displaced people in the southern Gaza Strip,” says Islam Abu Raq’a, a displaced person living in the schools. “Our health is very bad. I have cancer, and my wife has kidney failure.”

Abu Raq'a continues, saying that despite her illness, his wife is taking care of him and their son, who had donated one of his kidneys to her and is still bedridden without medication or painkillers.

He appeals to save his life.

In an appeal launched by citizen (heart patient) Mohammed Abed, he called for saving his life in light of the lack of medical care provided to him.

Abed, who suffers from valve problems and needs surgery, said, “I need surgery, but the doctors are telling me to postpone it because of the urgent surgeries caused by the war on Gaza, as well as the lack of medical equipment, most importantly the interventional cardiac catheterization I need for the operation.” He called for the need to reinforce medical staff with the necessary personnel and medical supplies to perform the surgeries that have been postponed for months.

Patient Abed expressed his fear that his health would deteriorate due to the postponement of the operation, stressing that the health system in the Gaza Strip is collapsing due to the ongoing war and Israel's refusal to allow the entry of necessary medications for patients.

Diseases resulting from war

The ongoing war for more than 18 months has left many people suffering from chronic illnesses such as stomach ailments, anemia, liver disease, rheumatism, neurological diseases, spinal cord problems, delayed growth, and birth defects.

With the deterioration of the health situation, more than 200,000 patients are now suffering from chronic diseases without medical follow-up or medication. More than 1,000 kidney patients require regular dialysis, while 11,000 citizens with heart disease suffer from high blood pressure, and 3,220 others suffer from various heart conditions.

Thousands more suffer from asthma, lung diseases, and various chest diseases. More than 13,000 diabetics require insulin, and 19,780 people suffer from cancer, including 122 children with leukemia. All of these people are at risk of dying after medicine stocks in the Gaza Strip ran out due to the blockade of humanitarian aid and the closure of crossings.

Kidney patients

Sabah Yassin, a kidney failure patient, says: “We kidney patients are dying slowly, and every night I feel like I’m with the dead. We need dialysis three times a week for four hours, and that’s enough for us.”

Speaking to Al Jazeera, Yassin referred to the food shortages she is suffering from, saying, "Eating canned food is unhealthy for us," adding, "We come to the hospital on foot because there are no cars, and this causes us great hardship."

Dr. Munir Al-Barash, Director General of the Ministry of Health in the Gaza Strip, confirms that “kidney patients are among those we consider vulnerable. They must have access to all the necessary dialysis medications and must undergo dialysis more than three times a week, with some requiring dialysis four times.”

Al-Barash added, "These capabilities are not available in Gaza, and the mortality rate is high, as is the case during war, widespread displacement, and unstable hospitals." He noted that the health situation is heading toward further deterioration.

Lack of resources

Dr. Khalil Al-Daqran, spokesman for Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, says the shortage of medical supplies and medicines has reached dangerous levels, with conditions in all hospitals across the Gaza Strip deteriorating.

Al-Daqran added, in an interview with Al Jazeera, that more than 60,000 children are at risk of death due to malnutrition, in addition to the lack of vaccinations for 650,000 children, after the occupation prevented the entry of any medical supplies. This threatens their lives, and the lives of neighboring countries, due to the contagion that accompanies polio if the suffering caused by the prevention of vaccine entry continues.

Dr. Ghazi Al-Yaziji, Head of the Kidney Dialysis Department at Al-Shifa Medical Complex, explains: “Before October 7, 2023, we had approximately 1,100 dialysis patients in the northern and southern governorates. Now, there are 700 patients. This means that 42% of them have died as a result of a number of dialysis units being out of service due to the blockade and their complete destruction, in addition to patients being confined to their homes and unable to reach the dialysis units.

Al-Yaziji added that the shortage of dialysis machines, due to their destruction or burning by the occupying army, has forced the reduction of dialysis sessions, resulting in complications that have even led to death.

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