Kidney Patients In Gaza Struggle To Get Treatment As Health System Gutted By War
A Palestinian checks the damage at a building inside the Al-Ahli Arab Hospital after an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City, on April 13, 2025. (Photo by Rizek Abdeljawad/Xinhua)
GAZA, April 29 (Bernama-Xinhua) -- On a rusty hospital bed in Gaza City, Issa Abu Laban was enduring a shortened dialysis session with outdated machines and dwindling medication.
"My body can't clear its toxins," the 53-year-old said. "I feel death surrounding me."
Abu Laban is one of hundreds of kidney patients in Gaza now facing life-threatening complications. Gaza's fragile health system -- already weakened by years of blockade -- has been pushed to the brink since the conflict erupted on Oct. 7, 2023. Hospitals are overwhelmed, with staff being exhausted and essential supplies critically scarce.
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The crisis has deepened after humanitarian aid and medicine were prevented from entering the enclave on March 2, when the first phase of a ceasefire expired. Two weeks later, on March 18, renewed Israeli military operations triggered fresh mass displacement, putting further strain on the few hospitals still functioning.
"Because of the Israeli blockade and war, none of the food, water, or other humanitarian aid is entering Gaza," Abu Mohammed Ajour, a 62-year-old kidney patient, told Xinhua.
Now living in a temporary shelter, Ajour often goes without clean drinking water.
"Bottled water is so expensive. I cannot afford it," he said. "But without clean water, my condition gets worse. It is not just the war that is killing us. It is thirst, poverty, and neglect," he said.
Children are especially vulnerable in this health crisis.
Seven-year-old Yousef al-Rantisi, pale and visibly exhausted, clutched a soft toy as he was undergoing dialysis. "I feel weak and cold. I just want the pain to stop," he whispered.
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