For thousands, death now arrives in silence; in the form of fever, cough, infection, and cold. Illnesses that are easily managed with basic treatment in most parts of the world have become a deadly nightmare in besieged Gaza.
Months of war and siege have pushed Gaza’s health system to the brink of total collapse. Many hospitals have been damaged in bombings or are operating at minimal capacity, lacking vital equipment. Doctors and nurses work under conditions where basic medicines, IV fluids, antibiotics, stable electricity, and even clean water are extremely scarce. In such a situation, treatable diseases rapidly progress and claim patients’ lives.
Alongside this crisis, widespread malnutrition has become a decisive factor. The prolonged siege has caused a severe food shortage, severely weakening the bodies of many children, the elderly, and those with chronic illnesses. Doctors say patients’ immune systems are so damaged that their bodies can no longer even fight off common infections.
One painful story of this tragedy is the death of Mariam Kloub, a young girl. She was taken to the hospital with flu-like symptoms—high fever, severe cough, and nausea. But the hospital conditions, the lack of medication, and severe physical weakness from hunger robbed her of her chance to survive. Mariam’s aunt told Middle East Eye: “She had no underlying health conditions. She just got sick. She had a fever, she was coughing, and gradually she couldn’t eat anything anymore.”
Doctors in Gaza say such cases are no longer exceptional. They face patients daily who have survived the bombings but are now losing their lives to preventable or treatable diseases. The lack of medicine, shortage of beds, power cuts, and inability to perform basic diagnostic tests have virtually tied the hands of medical staff.
The crisis is not limited to disease. Reports of the death of Duhya, a three-month-old baby who died from hypothermia (a severe drop in body temperature), show that even the most basic life needs—warmth, shelter, adequate clothing—are unavailable for many families. In the cold nights and destroyed homes, infants and children are at the greatest risk.
International organizations have repeatedly warned that the health situation in Gaza has reached a stage that can be described as a full-scale humanitarian and health disaster. The combination of war, siege, hunger, and the collapse of public services has created conditions whose consequences have become even deadlier than the bombings themselves.
What is happening in Gaza today is a shocking picture of the indirect consequences of protracted wars; a place where civilians, after surviving military attacks, fall victim to the lack of food, medicine, and a functioning healthcare system. In these conditions, death is not sudden, but slow and gradual, often starting with illnesses that in other parts of the world would never be fatal.
Middleeasteye
