Following communication with our Team Lead in Gaza earlier today, here is the latest update on the medical situation in the region.
Hospitals Under Siege
The last functional hospital in Rafah has been forced to close. Two hospitals in southern Gaza now remain operational: Al Aqsa in Deir el Balah and Nasser in Khan Yunis, the latter being only partially functional. The UK–Med field hospital in Khan Younis Al Mawasi is now one of just two remaining in the area, since a third was forced to evacuate in the last two days.
UK-Med’s CEO and team lead in Gaza, David Wightwick, said:
“The situation is increasingly dire; simply put, we are running out of hospitals. Many thousands of people are living in terrible, cramped conditions. As the medical capacity continues to reduce – the need for vital, lifesaving medical support continues to rise. We are doing everything we can to increase our ability to help in any way we can. We are seeing many trauma cases and increased levels of malnutrition. We desperately need more medicine and other supplies like food and fuel.”
“As one of the final outposts of refuge and medical aid in southern Gaza, staffed partly by NHS medics, the UK-Med field hospital in Al Mawasi is under increasing pressure to provide lifesaving healthcare for the beleaguered population.”
Humanitarian Zone and Evacuations
The designated humanitarian zone has been reduced, prompting the evacuation of several field hospitals, including the International Medical Corps (IMC) field hospital near the beach in Rafah.
Medical Emergency
Approximately 1.7 million people are estimated to be displaced in Khan Younis and the Middle Area. Many families in Khan Younis are taking refuge in damaged and destroyed facilities.
Operational Field Hospitals
UK-Med’s field hospital in Khan Younis Al Mawasi, situated in the designated humanitarian safe zone just 500 meters north of the new line, remains operational. This facility now offers 24/7 surgical capacity, performing ten surgical procedures daily.
The number of trauma cases resulting from airstrikes has surged. After a particularly severe night on Sunday, 26 May, the hospital’s capacity was rigorously tested. Our team performed admirably, stabilizing many patients now receiving care in the UK-Med high dependency unit.
Additionally, UK-Med’s second field hospital in Deir el Balah continues to expand its capacity and services, currently attending to 400 outpatients daily.
Paula Tobin is an NHS Senior Nurse in clinical emergency care in Derriford hospital, Plymouth and is now on her second UK-Med Gaza deployment: “My colleagues in the hospital at home are really supportive as are my family. They can’t believe I am here. I don’t really talk about it with them, but they all seem to understand none the less. There is a lot of trauma and unwell medical patients due to the terrible conditions. One particular case we are dealing with at the moment is my mind a lot; a woman and her two children who were injured in an airstrike in Rafah close to here. Many people were killed in that strike.”
Resource Crisis
David Wightwick: “The demand on these field hospitals is immense as they transition from relieving main hospitals to becoming the primary care providers themselves. Medicine stocks, food, and fuel are critically low.”
UK-Funded Efforts
The UK-funded operation has demonstrated exceptional agility, innovation, and responsiveness, thanks to the unwavering dedication of NHS, international and national staff.
While the UK-Med field hospitals are funded mostly by UK Aid, UK-Med is also calling for urgent funds to support its medical work in Gaza as its field hospital in Al Mawasi becomes one of the last medical facilities standing in southern Gaza.
For media enquiries and interviews, please contact Sean Sutton on +44 7561 225955 or at sean.sutton@uk-med.org
About UK-Med
We’re a frontline medical aid charity. Born of the NHS, we’re working towards a world where everyone has the healthcare they need when disasters or crises hit.
UK-Med is a humanitarian medical NGO with more than 30 years’ experience responding to conflicts and disasters around the world, including the war in Ukraine and the Turkey/Syria earthquakes.
We have a roster of nearly 1,000 medics and humanitarians, some of whom are NHS workers, on standby to respond to global health crises 24/7.
We are the only British NGO to be accredited by the World Health Organization as an Emergency Medical Team, and as such, we have been called on by the World Health Organization to provide urgent and life-saving medical aid in Gaza.
