Israel continues to block doctors from entering Gaza, surgeon says
Dr Ahmed Mokhallati, a former head of plastic surgery at al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza, says healthcare needs in the territory are immense.
“I think this time is very critical,” Mokhallati told Al Jazeera.
“In the middle of the noise of the ceasefire, people don’t notice that nothing has changed on the ground. We still have the famine… There is no electricity, no water, no petrol, no food supplies, no medicines,” he said.
“And despite all of this, Israel is still controlling the borders, with very minimal access to everything in Gaza.”
Despite the ceasefire, Israel has denied permission for most doctors who have asked to enter the territory to treat the sick and wounded, Mokhallati said.
“So, what’s happening is a continuation of the ethnical cleansing. What’s happening is a continuation of this genocide on the ground,” he added.
The surgeon said that all patients with congenital anomalies, heart disease, diabetes and cancer have not had treatment for more than two years, and many have died because of the lack of care.
“So now, we are faced with thousands of sick people who need immediate intervention and treatment in all aspects. And adding to this, more than 15,000 to 20,000 patients are awaiting evacuation out of Gaza, where the collapsed systems are unable to provide them with the services they need.”
Israel’s war collapses Gaza’s health services
Gaza’s healthcare infrastructure has been systematically targeted by Israeli forces since October 2023, leaving it in ruins.
Israeli attacks have wounded nearly 170,000 people in Gaza. Thousands need long-term rehabilitation and treatment, including hundreds with limbs amputated, paralysis and blindness.
But Gaza’s health services have almost completely collapsed.
Some 38 hospitals and dozens of health centres have been destroyed or forced to close, leaving the population with almost no access to medical care. And a severe famine is gripping the Strip, with one in four children acutely malnourished. Aid agencies are also warning that starvation is spreading rapidly.
UN expert says Israel must let foreign journalists, flotillas into Gaza
Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territory, has called on Israel to let international journalists and aid groups into Gaza, now that it has declared the war there over.
“If peace has really started and Gaza is no longer a ‘combat zone’, it means that [international] journalists can come in and [the Global Sumud Flotilla] can resume its humanitarian convoys, right?” Albanese wrote in a post on X.
“Or is Israel still afraid of [international] observers?”
If peace has really started and Gaza is no longer a "combat zone", it means that int'l journalists can come in and @gbsumudflotilla can resume its humanitarian convoys, right? Or is Israel still afraid of intl observers?
— Francesca Albanese, UN Special Rapporteur oPt (@FranceskAlbs) October 14, 2025
