'Now, not tomorrow': Gaza hospitals plead for immediate blood units
DaysofPal- A severe lack of blood supplies and the increasing number of casualties are causing the Gaza Strip's healthcare system to collapse as a result of Israel's unrelenting attack. Medical professionals across Gaza have issued urgent appeals for the immediate entry of blood units and essential medical equipment, warning that patients are dying daily for lack of basic transfusion support.
At the heart of the crisis is al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, the largest and most severely impacted medical facility in the enclave. Its director, Dr. Mohammed Abu Salmiya, described the situation as catastrophic.
'We are completely unable to provide blood units for the wounded and sick,' said Abu Salmiya. 'Young men and women come to us to donate blood, only to discover that they need blood transfusions due to severe malnutrition.'
He stressed the devastating toll this shortage is taking: 'We are losing a large number of wounded people every day due to the lack of blood units, amid a continuous and massive influx of casualties every minute.'
'We are asking nothing from the world except for the immediate entry of blood units into the Gaza Strip … now, not tomorrow.'
The situation is no better across other hospitals in the Strip. Sahar Ghanem, director of the Medical Laboratories and Blood Banks Department, reinforced the desperate need for both blood and the equipment necessary to test, store, and transport it.
'We are facing a shortage of blood bank supplies in all hospitals in the Gaza Strip,' Ghanem said. 'Malnutrition has had a significant impact on the number of blood donors, yet people continue to donate whatever they can.'
However, the limited pool of donors, many of whom are themselves anemic, has forced hospitals to break international health protocols.
'We're collecting blood even from donors who don't meet the necessary criteria,' she revealed. 'That includes donors who are anemic, which is medically prohibited, but we have no other choice.'
She noted that supplies are rapidly consumed across major facilities such as Nasser Medical Complex, Al-Shifa Hospital, and other hospitals still functioning under extreme conditions.
Ghanem called for the urgent import of blood units, blood bags, and testing and storage equipment, adding that the health of the population must also be improved through aid and nutrition so that more people can safely donate blood.
Abu Salmiya reiterated this call during an interview with Al Jazeera, highlighting that many lives were lost not from the severity of wounds but simply due to the inability to provide transfusions.
As the health system in Gaza teeters on the brink of total collapse, the Ministry of Health in Gaza confirmed that among the many people in urgent need of blood were those injured in the recent Israeli massacre in Rafah.
At Nasser Hospital, officials issued a call for citizens to donate blood around the clock, stating that the scale of the ongoing Israeli bombardment had caused the facility to nearly run out of blood supplies altogether.
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