Health Ministry in Gaza warns of drug crisis in escalating conflict

The Health Ministry in the Gaza Strip has warned of the devastating consequences of an unprecedented crisis in medicines and medical supplies, threatening the lives of patients as hospitals and health centers are overwhelmed by the situation.

The ministry said 60 percent of essential medicines and 83 percent of medical supplies in its warehouses had been depleted, making it impossible to provide vital services such as emergency care, surgery, intensive care, dialysis, primary health care and mental health care.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi discussed mediation efforts for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and the exchange of prisoners in a phone call with US President Joe Biden on Friday evening. The two presidents reviewed the latest developments in the round of negotiations currently taking place in Cairo and stressed the importance of the parties involved being willing to overcome obstacles and show flexibility in order to conclude the agreement.

Meanwhile, the Israeli military has issued new evacuation orders for residents of several areas in the Gaza Strip, continuing a policy it has pursued since the beginning of the offensive.

The Israeli army has ordered the immediate evacuation of Palestinians in the areas of Al-Masdar, Al-Maghazi and East Deir al-Balah. Palestinians near Salah Al-Din Street (in the central Gaza Strip) have also been ordered to evacuate.

The municipality of Deir al-Balah in central Gaza said that about 100,000 Palestinians had been displaced from the eastern part of the city in the past two days due to Israeli bombings and evacuation orders. “100,000 Palestinians have been displaced from the east of the city in the past two days and 20 emergency shelters have become unusable due to Israeli bombings and evacuation orders,” the municipality said.

The Health Ministry reported that Israeli forces carried out five massacres of civilians in Gaza in the past 48 hours, leaving 69 dead and 212 injured. The ministry's daily report said the death toll from Israeli aggression had risen to 40,334 dead and 93,356 injured since October 7.

Leaders of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) have said that a delegation from the movement is expected to arrive in Cairo on Saturday to hear from mediators on the latest developments in negotiations for a ceasefire in Gaza. The movement added: “We reiterate our commitment to what we agreed on July 2, namely the agreement based on the Biden statement and the Security Council resolution.”

Reuters quoted an informed source as saying that disagreements arose between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israeli negotiators after he insisted on keeping the Israeli army in the Philadelphia Corridor in the Gaza Strip. The sources added that Netanyahu had agreed to move a base hundreds of meters away from the Philadelphia Corridor while retaining full control.

On the ground, the Izz al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, announced that they had detonated a minefield in a number of Israeli vehicles and engineering equipment in an area with military bases east of the city of Deir Al-Balah. A helicopter was also seen landing for evacuation.

The Qassam Brigades also reported that they had attacked an Israeli Merkava tank east of the city of Deir al-Balah with a Yassin 105 grenade.