The outage has worsened the Strip’s already-weak hospital infrastructure. Credit: Jaromir Chalabala via Shutterstock.

Gaza is battling with a severe crisis in its healthcare system due to a complete electricity blackout in the wake of military clashes between the Palestinian group Hamas and Israel, reported Middle East Eye.

Following orders from Israel’s Energy Minister Israel Katz, the state-run electricity company stopped the supply of power to the Gaza Strip, leaving much of the region in the dark.

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Ashraf al-Qedra, a spokesman for Gaza’s health ministry, said several hospitals were depending on old and dilapidated generators, which were leading to increased consumption of fuel.

“The available fuel reserves are insufficient to sustain hospital operations for a long period of time.

“We are really concerned that the power generators may cease functioning at any given moment.”

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Gaza’s only power plant requires roughly 500MW of electricity to meet the requirements of the Strip’s two million people. Prior to Israel halting supplies, only 180MW was available to the Gaza Strip.

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Newborn babies and patients requiring dialysis, suffering from respiratory conditions, and those undergoing surgical procedures were the most impacted due to the cut in electricity.

A nurse at Gaza’s European Hospital in the Strip, Hassan Abusultan said: “The number of patients admitted [into hospital] is increasing, particularly heart and surgery cases.

“The pressure [on the department] is worsened by the power cuts.”

As per data from the Palestinian Ministry of Health, 44% of essential medication and 32% of medical disposables in the hospitals in Gaza have no stock. The ill-equipped hospitals in Gaza have also initiated appeals for blood donors.

A minimum of five ambulances have been destroyed in the ongoing air strikes.

Hamas launched the largest military attack in decades on Israel on 7 October. The attack killed hundreds of people in Israel, triggering retaliatory strikes on Gaza.