Gaza hospitals risk power cuts as generator oil runs out

GAZA — Hospitals in Gaza face possible power outages after the oil used to run their generators ran out, the Health Ministry warned on Wednesday, according to Anadolu Agency.

The ministry said in a statement that the generators still working were operating under "complex engineering and technical conditions" and faced "the risk of immediate mechanical failure and deterioration," Anadolu reported.

Warning on life-saving care

According to Anadolu, the ministry cautioned that a shutdown of the generators would "disrupt power supplies to numerous vital departments and units providing life-saving care." The agency's report did not name the departments or hospitals most at risk.

The ministry said hospitals need more than 2,500 liters of oil a month to keep their generators running, according to the same report.

Anadolu said the ministry had warned several times before that emergency measures supplying small quantities of oil could not keep the generators going for much longer. It pointed to two reasons: the generators are running for long hours, and they urgently need maintenance.

Call for intervention

The ministry called on all relevant parties to "fulfill their humanitarian responsibilities and intervene immediately to ensure the entry of the oil and spare parts needed to keep the generators running," according to Anadolu. The agency did not say which parties the ministry meant. It also did not report any response from them.

What is not confirmed

The Anadolu report relies on the Health Ministry's statement. It gave no independent account of conditions inside individual hospitals. It did not say whether any hospital has already lost power. It also did not say when the last oil deliveries arrived or when new supplies might enter Gaza.

Background

Anadolu described Gaza's healthcare system as struggling amid widespread damage to the enclave's infrastructure and what it called ongoing Israeli violations of the Gaza ceasefire. According to the agency, those violations have killed more than 1,500 people over the past year. The report did not say who provided that figure.

Anadolu also reported that, since October 2023, Israel has killed more than 74,000 Palestinians and injured 175,000 others. It said about 90 percent of the enclave's infrastructure has been destroyed or damaged. The agency did not attribute these figures to a named source in the article. Israel's position on the ministry's warning and on the agency's figures was not included in the report.

Hospitals depend on generators when the main electricity supply is unavailable. In its statement, the ministry linked the generators' condition to limited oil deliveries, long operating hours and the need for spare parts, according to Anadolu.

Zenga News has not independently verified the ministry's statement or the figures in the Anadolu report.