World
How Israel destroyed Gaza’s health system ‘deliberately and methodically’
After the partial reopening of the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt this week, the world’s attention turned to the process of allowing a small number of wounded and sick Palestinians out of the besieged territory.
But while these medical evacuations are necessary, advocates say, the core priority must be to rebuild the health system in Gaza, which has been ravaged by Israel’s genocidal war against Palestinians in the Strip.
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“The Israeli occupation has deliberately and methodically destroyed the health system,” Gaza Ministry of Health spokesperson Zaher al-Wahidi told Al Jazeera in a phone interview.
He outlined five key challenges the health system is facing after 28 months of blockade, bombardment and mass killings, which have not stopped after a United States-brokered “ceasefire” came into force in October: near absence of patient evacuations, lack of medical equipment, shortage of medication, destruction of facilities and need for medical workers.
He called on the “people of the free world and anyone who can lend a helping hand” to pressure Israel to fully open the Rafah crossing and allow medication and medical equipment into Gaza, as well as specialised teams to help healthcare workers.
Yara Asi, a Palestinian-American public health expert at the University of Central Florida, said the needs of the devastated health system in Gaza have not changed since the “ceasefire” took effect.
“The problem is just not in the news as much now,” she told Al Jazeera, describing how Gaza’s health and humanitarian sector is a “victim” of the “short attention spans” of donors and international actors.
“The ceasefire took the throttle off,” Asi said.
“A lot of the same needs and conditions still exist. All those tens of thousands of people with injuries still have injuries.”
Lack of medicine
The devastation and lack of access to medical care have killed thousands of Palestinians, experts say.
For example, there were 1,244 kidney patients in Gaza before the start of the war in October 2023. Now that number stands at 622, al-Wahidi said.
While 30 were documented to have been killed in direct Israeli attacks, al-Wahidi estimated that hundreds of others died from lack of access to dialysis services.
And the crisis is ongoing.
Despite the “ceasefire”, al-Wahidi said, thousands of people in Gaza are also at risk of dying due to shortages in medication.
“With medicine, the deficit has grown after the ‘ceasefire’. Although the number of injuries has gone down relatively, the lack of medicine has gotten worse, reaching 52 percent. This is a rate that we did not reach throughout the war,” al-Wahidi told Al Jazeera.
The medicine deficit for chronic illnesses is at 62 percent, he added.
“That means 62 percent of people with chronic conditions are not able to take their medication regularly, which leads to deterioration in health, which leads to death,” al-Wahidi said.
There are 350,000 patients with chronic illnesses in Gaza, according to the Health Ministry.
Al-Wahidi said people with long-term illnesses need regular medical attention, tests and visits with physicians – services that were inaccessible throughout the war due to repeated displacement and Israeli attacks on medical centres.
“I don’t think any hypertension patient has been able to see a doctor regularly since the war started. And if they managed to get medical attention, we don’t have enough medication for everyone,” he said.
According to the Gaza Government Media Office, Israeli attacks have put 22 hospitals in Gaza out of service and damaged 211 ambulances.
So, beyond equipment and doctors, the physical medical buildings in Gaza have also been severely damaged.
Al-Wahidi said there are no functioning hospitals left in northern Gaza. “People have to come to Gaza City, often on foot, walking several kilometres to reach al-Shifa Hospital or al-Ahli Hospital,” he said.
Medical evacuations crucial
Amid this widespread destruction, health advocates say restoring Gaza’s health system should go hand-in-hand with evacuating patients who need urgent care.
Mohammed Tahir, a trauma surgeon who volunteered in Gaza during the war, described the situation of the health sector in the territory as “dire”.
“The hospitals in Gaza have been destroyed. Its doctors, its nurses have been killed, imprisoned, forced to flee,” he told Al Jazeera.
“The facilities are in squalor, really. There is a huge gap in terms of the surgical equipment required – the ICU facilities, the dialysis machines, the diagnostic devices there, the provision of medicines from antibiotics to painkillers to those required for managing chronic conditions.”
Israeli officials and US President Donald Trump have repeatedly expressed plans for removing all Palestinians from Gaza.
Tahir said while concerns about ethnic cleansing in Gaza are valid, medical evacuations are necessary to treat people who need specialised care and lessen the burden on the medical system.
“What we want to do is to take these patients that need evacuation out of Gaza into other healthcare systems and create a method to repatriate them to Gaza,” he said.
Tahir stressed that transferring people with complex injuries and conditions would free up medical resources for routine healthcare services in the territory.
“That allows the people of Gaza to treat the normal, regular conditions,” he said. “People still walk in the streets. They fall over; they break their hip; they break their ankle; that needs treatment, and we need to empower them to manage these day-to-day conditions as well.”
Tarik Jasarevic, a spokesperson for the World Health Organization (WHO), said beyond Rafah, referral pathways must open from Gaza to Jerusalem, the occupied West Bank and across the world.
“What the focus should be now is to rebuild the health system inside Gaza, so we don’t rely so much on evacuations,” Jasarevic told Al Jazeera in a TV interview.
‘De-healthification’ of Gaza
In addition to attacking hospitals across Gaza, Israeli forces regularly ordered the evacuation of medical centres and raided them under the unfounded claim that they were used as command centres by the Palestinian group Hamas.
Public health experts say a functioning medical system is more than a place where people can get treatment; it is a tenet of a viable society – and that is exactly what Israel tried to dismantle.
One of the acts that constitute a genocide, according to the 1948 United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, is deliberately inflicting on the targeted group “conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part”.
Asi, the public health expert, pointed to footage of Israeli soldiers filming themselves smashing hospital equipment as further evidence that the systemic targeting of the health sector in Gaza was deliberate.
She said the Israeli campaign against the health system “should be, in and of itself, seen as part of the perpetuation of creating” conditions to destroy the Palestinian people.
Asi added that researchers know from past conflicts that many people are pushed to leave their homes and neighbourhoods when the last clinic or hospital is closed.
“People know that they cannot live without healthcare. So it’s a tool of displacement. It’s a tool of ensuring that reconstruction, rebuilding people going back to certain areas is, if not impossible, much more difficult,” Asi said.
The Health Ministry’s al-Wahidi said the medical system in the territory served as a “safety valve” for the people throughout the war.
“In any area, people were finding safety in the functioning hospitals. The medical workers would remain until the last minute in the hospitals until they are forcibly removed or detained by Israeli forces,” he told Al Jazeera.
“So, attacking the hospitals and raiding them was a recipe for displacing people. The resilience of the hospitals became the resilience of the people. As long as the hospitals remained standing, the people remained in their land.”
Layth Malhis, a Georgetown University graduate student, recently wrote a report for Al-Shabaka think tank on what he termed the “de-healthification” of Palestine – a longstanding Israeli policy intended to “render Palestinian life unhealable and perishable”.
Malhis told Al Jazeera the Israeli assault on healthcare workers – as symbols of knowledge and social mobility – aimed to psychologically and physically harm Palestinians in Gaza.
“What we saw in the genocide is that the Israelis have treated doctors and nurses and their institutions as combatants – because they understand that if you really want to eviscerate the Palestinians and remove them from their land, you have to get rid of the people that are keeping them alive and resistant and resilient,” he said.
Rebuilding
Despite the enormous challenges, al-Wahidi said, the health sector in Gaza is trying to recover.
“Under the current standards and data and circumstances, it all seems unmanageable, but we are still providing services to the best of our ability,” he said.
Al-Wahidi said the Health Ministry is starting to restore medical buildings with local efforts and materials available on the market.
He added that officials are launching vaccination campaigns and opening new clinics while expanding services at the still-functioning hospitals daily.
“For the first time since the start of the war, we resumed open-heart surgeries at al-Quds Hospital. This is an achievement under these difficult conditions,” al-Wahidi said.
“We also activated childbirth services at 19 medical centres throughout the Gaza Strip. Humble efforts, but we are trying to rebuild the healthcare system with the resources available.”
Asi said Palestinian health workers embody the best of the profession, voicing disappointment that people in the global medical community have largely overlooked the plight of their peers in Gaza.
“The health sector is such a microcosm of Palestinian resilience,” she said.
“It is beyond comprehension for most of us that we could ever go through those conditions and have the motivation to rebuild as they have when so many of their comrades have been killed, and the threat to them is still existent. I think it’s astounding. I think it’s incredible.”
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A speeding passenger train tore into a minibus packed with children in Belgium on Tuesday, crushing the vehicle and killing four people — including two children — and leaving five other children critically injured.
The violent collision happened during the morning rush near the town of Buggenhout, about 20 miles northwest of Brussels, in what officials described as one of the country’s worst rail accidents in recent history.
Authorities said the minibus appeared to drive through a closed railway crossing barrier moments before it was struck by the train, which was traveling at about 75 mph. Security camera footage showed the bus moving across the tracks before impact.
A total of nine people were aboard the bus. The bus driver, an escort and two children ages 12 and 15 were killed, according to the East Flanders public prosecutor’s office. The five surviving children were hospitalized with serious injuries.
VIDEO SHOWS THE MOMENT A PASSENGER TRAIN SMASHES INTO AN SUV, DRIVER ESCAPES WITH SECONDS TO SPARE
Rescue workers respond to a crash between a train and a vehicle in Buggenhout, Belgium, on May 26, 2026. (Koen Baten/AP)
“What we do know is that the barrier was closed and the red light was on,” spokesperson Lisa De Wilde told reporters, adding that investigators are still working to determine the exact cause of the crash.
Emergency personnel work at a level crossing to move a van onto a flatbed truck after it collided with a train in Buggenhout, Belgium, on May 26, 2026. (Marius Burgelman/AP)
The driver appeared to have plowed through the crossing barrier, Federal Police spokesperson An Berger said. Belgian rail operator Infrabel said the crossing system was functioning properly at the time of the crash.
“The impact was extremely violent,” Infrabel spokesperson Frédéric Sacré told Belgian broadcaster RTBF, adding that the train operator had “no time to brake” before the collision.
A woman on a bike stands next to police tape and debris at a level crossing in Buggenhout, Belgium, one day after a train collided with a school van on May 27, 2026. (Virginia Mayo/AP)
DRIVER, VICTIMS IDENTIFIED IN ILLINOIS AFTER-SCHOOL CAMP CRASH THAT LEFT 4 DEAD, INCLUDING CHILDREN
An Associated Press journalist at the scene reported that the minibus was overturned with its front end completely crushed, while the train itself suffered relatively minor damage.
Flower condolences are left at a level crossing in Buggenhout, Belgium, one day after a train collided with a school van on May 27, 2026. (Virginia Mayo/AP)
Officials said roughly 100 passengers were aboard the train, though no injuries were reported among them. Rail traffic in the area was suspended as emergency crews responded.
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Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever said he was “deeply moved by the horrific accident in Buggenhout,” offering condolences to the victims’ families in a social media post.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Hello readers. Angela Skujins writing this newsletter from a sizzling Brussels, where, as one Belgian climate policy expert pointed out, is a city that now comes equipped with a roasting roundabout that can satisfy your culinary needs. Mared Jones will be picking up a hopefully cooler pen for you on Friday.
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Much to offer in this newsletter today, from energy to Hungary to Europe’s envoy.
Cooking with gas. The International Energy Agency (IEA) says the war in the Middle East has sparked the largest energy security crisis the world has ever faced. This comes as the European Union weighs measures to tackle yet another shock following soaring gas prices from Russia’s 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine, but this time pushing prices higher.
Our chief Europe editor Maria Tadeo sat down with the agency’s executive director Fatih Birol in an exclusive interview from Paris, where they discussed the outlook for Europe and the risks ahead. On the future, Birol warned: “The world is becoming more and more a dangerous place.”
“Our motto is very clear – no fear, no favour. We look at the data, we give a wake-up call to the countries.”
The IEA says in a report released today that the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz – pushing up prices of gas and oil – is also prompting countries to diversify their energy mix. This spans both fossil fuels to renewables, both within Europe and beyond. This review will have “major implications” for investment, Birol said.
“I very much hope that very soon we get a full and unconditional opening of the Strait of Hormuz. If it doesn’t happen, the problem with the jet fuel and diesel and beyond will be with us for weeks to come,” he said. You can watch the full interview tonight on Euronews.
The Budapest blunder. Much of the Brussels press corps was left dazed and confused yesterday as rumours circulated that the Hungarian Prime Minister Péter Magyar would meet with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen today.
After a torrent of questions, and various senior EU spokespeople saying the meeting was not on the cards, Magyar put the rumours to bed by clarifying he would meet von der Leyen on Friday. “Everyone is working” on bringing back the EU funds, a triumphant Facebook post by the prime minister announced late yesterday afternoon.
The bilateral is expected to focus on finalising the release of €10 billion in recovery funds. A central campaign pledge of Péter Magyar’s Tisza Party, which won a landslide election in May, was recovering EU cash frozen over rule of law and anti-corruption concerns under former prime minister Viktor Orbán. The money will be forfeited if the new government fails to secure the funds by the August deadline.
Euronews’ Sándor Zsíros asked the European Commission about the visit and correspondence between von der Leyen and Magyar on Tuesday.
Chief spokesperson Paula Pinhosaid she could not provide an update, while her colleague Maciej Berestecki clarified there had been good progress on talks to release the frozen cash but “some questions need to be clarified”. The overall aim, though, is to develop a plan to release the funds by the beginning of June at the latest, he added. Sándor gets into the weeds of what Magyar’s meeting with von der Leyen really means.
Despite the on-again-off-again catch-up, Magyar will meet NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte at the military alliance’s HQ in Zaventem today and give a press conference at 2:30pm. The thrust of the meeting, as well as topics discussed, is still under wraps, as NATO’s press service responded to Euronews’ question for comments by sending us to the event’s landing page.
But we do have some answers. European Commissioner for Democracy, Justice and Rule of Law Michael McGrath just told Europe Today that there has been a “good start” resetting relations between Budapest and Brussels, while hinting there’s more work to be done. “We are there as a Commission to work with them on restoring rule of law and respecting fundamental rights of its citizens,” he said.
When pressed about the confusion regarding choreography, McGrath clarified, “These meetings are quite often not nailed down”. Watch.
Finding Europe’s Russia whisperer. Meanwhile, in Lemesos, Cyprus, foreign ministers have gathered for an informal meeting. High Representative Kaja Kallas will strive to bring ministers closer towards a common position on whether, how and when to engage diplomatically with Russia to end the war in Ukraine.
The idea of direct talks with Russia has been added and removed from the agenda since at least January. Momentum soared earlier this month after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy asked Europeans to speak with “one common voice” and designate a special envoy. His plea sent the buzz into overdrive, with various names, such as Alexander Stubb, Mario Draghi and Angela Merkel, casually floated for the high-stakes job.
However, Russia’s large-scale strikes against Ukraine over the weekend and its subsequent message urging foreign citizens and diplomats to leave Kyiv “as soon as possible”, widely interpreted as a direct threat, have drastically upended the conversation.
Those who were reluctant to engage with Russia before, such as Germany, the Netherlands, the Baltics and the Nordics, have less incentive to do it now. Even France, one of the most vocal proponents of direct talks, has admitted the time isn’t right for the diplomatic outreach.
As Jorge Liboreiro and Luca Bertuzzi explain, Thursday’s debate is meant to lay the groundwork for the moment when Russia decides to take the peace process seriously. That, of course, remains a distant prospect, as Moscow’s escalatory rhetoric shows little sign of softening.
On her way into the meeting, Kallas highlighted the dangers of choosing a European envoy. “It’s a trap,” she told a throng of reporters, stating Russia was cherry-picking internally and publicly whom it wanted to benefit its interests. “The substance is much more important than the who.”
Nordic coalition urges EU to stand firm against new oil and gas drilling in the Arctic
A Nordic coalition of financial institutions, trade unions and climate scientists issued a stark warning to the European Commission on Wednesday, calling on European Union leaders to maintain its existing ban on new Arctic oil and gas drilling as the bloc is revising its policy in the region.
In an open letter to five European Commissioners, the group urges Brussels not to soften its stance, fearing the bloc may be reassessing its opposition to Arctic drilling, citing previous media allegations “with concern”.
As Marta Pacheco reports, since 2021, the EU has supported a global ban on new oil and gas drilling as part of its Arctic policy for environmental reasons. But the EU is currently revising its regional strategy in the Arctic, prompting critics of new fossil fuel drilling ventures to speak out.
The letter’s premise lies in both environmental concerns and potential security threats to Europe, given its proximity to Russian territory, where Moscow often boasts nuclear drills.
It argues that the changing geopolitical situation has heightened the security risks in the Barents Sea, with oil and gas infrastructure being potential targets for hybrid warfare due to the proximity to Russian territory and the Northern Sea Route.
“If oil and gas flowing from the Norwegian part of the Arctic becomes crucial for Europe’s energy security, it would make the infrastructure even more attractive as targets for sabotage and make the EU vulnerable to such attacks,” reads the letter backed by 127 signatories, mostly hailing from the Northern hemisphere.
Europe is the ‘last evangelist’ of a trade order that’s no longer respected – France’s Haddad
Europe should use “all the tools” it can leverage to “defend its interests” and tackle aggressive foreign trade practices that threaten its industry, France’s EU Affairs Minister Benjamin Haddad has told Euronews. His comments come as the EU mulls a clampdown on a glut of Chinese imports.
“A commitment to international trade law – it’s important. But you have to be strong and to be respected,” Haddad said on Euronews’ interview programme, 12 Minutes With.
“You have to be able to defend your interest and use all the tools that you can leverage, especially to impose the very basic principles of fairness and reciprocity.”
Asked by Mared Jones if Europe had been too slow in its response to the eroding of international trade rules, Haddad said, “Yes, I think so, because I think that we (Europeans) are still sometimes the last evangelists of a religion that no one is practising anymore.
“You know, the religion of unfettered free trade of the WTO (World Trade Organisation), which clearly China and the US have abandoned a long time ago.” Watch.
More from our newsrooms
Zelenskyy sent letter asking Trump for Patriot air defence munitions, adviser confirms
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has urged the United States to provide more ammunition for its Patriot air defence systems to counter Russian ballistic missiles, according to a document reviewed by the AFP news agency on Wednesday. Gavin Blackburn has more.
EU Commission chief eyes new AI envoy, but the role is still to be fully defined
The European Commission might soon appoint an AI envoy – but what the job would actually entail remains undefined. The idea was floated last week by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen during a meeting with Europe’s top corporate executives gathered at the European Round Table for Industry. “It seems to be an idea that comes back now and again,” a diplomatic source told Euronews, noting it was not the first time the post had been suggested. Luca Bertuzzi has the latest.
South Africa and Afrikaners reject US claims of humanitarian crisis for white people
The South African government and advocacy groups for the country’s Afrikaner white minority rejected on Wednesday the Trump administration’s position that there’s a humanitarian emergency affecting white people in South Africa. Additional reporting by Gavin Blackburn.
We’re also keeping an eye on
- European Parliament President Roberta Metsola continues her visit to San Francisco.
- European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen meets the Prime Minister of Bulgaria Rumen Radev.
- European Commissioner for Environment, Water Resilience and a Competitive Circular Economy Jessika Roswall meets with the Prime Minister of Greece Kyriakos Mitsotakis.
That’s it for today. Jorge Liboreiro and Marta Pacheco contributed to this newsletter.
World
War breaking news. Israel: two senior Hamas figures hit in northern Gaza. Iran, Trump: ‘No one will control the Strait of Hormuz’
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, the Pasdaran, claim that 25 ships have crossed the Strait of Hormuz in the last 24 hours
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