Hospitals across the Gaza Strip are scrambling for fuel to keep intensive care units operating and continue saving lives amid a flood of injured patients. The situation forces the doctor to choose whose life he will try to save.

A shortage of other supplies, including ventilators, is currently forcing medical teams to prioritize the lives of people who can be saved over severe cases that require comprehensive care, said Dr. Muhammad Kandíl, who works at Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis, told The Guardian. AP.

“It’s heartbreaking,” Kandíl said. “With ten seriously injured patients coming to us every day, we have to make do with maybe three or five available ICU beds. We had to choose who had to face death, or whether we could manage it in a regular ward, or do limited care, because as a medical team we thought that between two life-threatening patients, we should put one patient on a ventilator. those with a better chance of reaching 24 hours will increase,” he added.

Many hospital wards were plunged into darkness, as medical staff only allowed electricity in intensive care units, where patients risked dying without power. On Friday, the hospital used up the last of its fuel supplies, but on Saturday it was able to obtain another tank from UNRWA’s existing supplies, Kandíl said. “This amount should be enough for three to five days,” he added.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the Gaza Ministry of Health reported that daily consumption of medical supplies during the war was equivalent to monthly consumption before the armed conflict. The report said there was an “imminent public health disaster” due to mass displacement, overcrowding in shelters and damage to water and sanitation infrastructure.

The first 20 trucks loaded with humanitarian aid, including food and medicine, permitted to cross the Rafah border crossing from Egypt, arrived in the Gaza Strip on Saturday. But they do not import fuel because Israel refuses to allow fuel imports.

Israel launched a war against the radical Palestinian movement Hamas, launching a surprise attack on the movement on October 7, killing more than 1,400 people. Israeli retaliatory bombing claimed more than 4,300 lives and injured more than 13,500 people, according to Palestinian authorities.

At least 11 Palestinians were killed and dozens more injured in an Israeli attack on the town of Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip today, Al Jazeera reported, citing the Palestinian agency WAFA. According to Palestinian media, Israeli bombings hit the cafe. Khan Yunis is where refugees from the northern Gaza Strip have taken refuge. Rescue teams and residents are still looking for victims. (ČTK)