Dire blood shortage in Gaza as deaths from Israeli attacks, starvation grow
With so many Gaza Palestinians facing malnutrition, donors unable to give in the besieged enclave.
Gaza’s already battered healthcare system is in a state of collapse as blood banks run dry and Israeli forces continue targeting clinics and facilities housing patients and displaced families while maintaining an aid blockade.
Healthcare officials in the besieged enclave reported on Wednesday that there is a severe shortage of blood as many would-be donors are too malnourished due to a severe Israeli-induced hunger crisis that has so far claimed the lives of 193 Palestinians, including five in the past 24 hours.
Al Jazeera’s Hani Mahmoud, reporting from Gaza City, said blood donations are desperately needed across the remaining operational medical facilities in Gaza – al-Shifa Hospital, Al-Aqsa Hospital, and Nasser Hospital.
“We’ve seen at the blood banks many people who were begging doctors to allow them to give blood donations to save their loved ones, but they had to be turned away because they were not fit to donate blood due to the enforced dehydration and starvation,” Mahmoud said.
Amani Abu Ouda, head of the blood bank at al-Shifa Hospital, said most would-be donors who arrive are malnourished, which affects the safety and quality of blood donations.
As a result, she said, “when they donate blood they could lose consciousness within seconds, which not only endangers their health but also leads to the loss of a precious blood unit.”