Dialysis patients struggle to get treatment in blockaded Gaza. Officials
say hundreds have died
[April 23, 2025]
By WAFAA SHURAFA and SAMY MAGDY
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Twice a week, Mohamed Attiya’s
wheelchair rattles over Gaza’s scarred roads so he can visit the machine
that is keeping him alive.
The 54-year-old makes the journey from a temporary shelter west of Gaza
City to Shifa Hospital in the city’s north. There, he receives dialysis
for the kidney failure he was diagnosed with nearly 15 years ago. But
the treatment, limited by the war's destruction and lack of supplies, is
not enough to remove all the waste products from his blood.
“It just brings you back from death,” the father of six said.
Many others like him have not made it. They are some of Gaza’s quieter
deaths from the war, with no explosion, no debris. But the toll is
striking: Over 400 patients, representing around 40% of all dialysis
cases in the territory, have died during the 18-month conflict because
of lack of proper treatment, according to Gaza's Health Ministry.
That includes 11 patients who have died since the beginning of March,
when Israel sealed the territory's 2 million Palestinians off from all
imports, including food, medical supplies and fuel. Israeli officials
say the aim is to pressure Hamas to release more hostages after Israel
ended their ceasefire.
COGAT, the Israeli military body in charge of coordinating aid, declined
to comment on the current blockade. It has said in the past that all
medical aid is approved for entry when the crossings are open, and that
around 45,400 tons of medical equipment have entered Gaza since the
start of the war.
Hardships mount for Gaza patients
Attiya said he needs at least three dialysis sessions every week, at
least four hours each time. Now, his two sessions last two or three
hours at most.
Israel’s blockade, and its numerous evacuation orders across much of the
territory, have challenged his ability to reach regular care.
He has been displaced at least six times since fleeing his home near the
northern town of Beit Hanoun in the first weeks of the war. He first
stayed in Rafah in the south, then the central city of Deir al-Balah.
When the latest ceasefire took effect in January, he moved again to
another school in western Gaza City.
Until recently, Attiya walked to the hospital for dialysis. But he says
the limited treatment, and soaring prices for the mineral water he
should be drinking, have left him in a wheelchair.
His family wheels him through a Gaza that many find difficult to
recognize. Much of the territory has been destroyed.
“There is no transportation. Streets are damaged,” Attiya said. “Life is
difficult and expensive.”
He said he now has hallucinations because of the high levels of toxins
in his blood.
“The occupation does not care about the suffering or the sick,” he said,
referring to Israel and its soldiers.
A health system gutted by war
Six of the seven dialysis centers in Gaza have been destroyed during the
war, the World Health Organization said earlier this year, citing the
territory’s Health Ministry. The territory had 182 dialysis machines
before the war and now has 102. Twenty-seven of them are in northern
Gaza, where hundreds of thousands of people rushed home during the
two-month ceasefire.
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Wasem Attiya pushes his father, Mohamed, 54, in a wheelchair as they
head to Shifa hospital in Gaza City for a dialysis session, Monday,
April 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
 “These equipment shortages are
exacerbated by zero stock levels of kidney medications,” the WHO
said.
Israel has raided hospitals on several occasions during the war,
accusing Hamas of using them for military purposes. Hospital staff
deny the allegations and say the raids have gutted the territory's
health care system as it struggles to cope with mass casualties from
the war.
The Health Ministry says over 51,000 Palestinians, mostly women and
children, have been killed in Israel's offensive, without saying how
many were civilians or combatants. Hamas-led militants killed some
1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducted 251 in the Oct. 7, 2023
attack that triggered the war.
Officials say hundreds of patients have died
At Shifa Hospital, the head of the nephrology and dialysis
department, Dr. Ghazi al-Yazigi, said at least 417 patients with
kidney failure have died in Gaza during the war because of lack of
proper treatment.
That’s from among the 1,100 patients when the war began.
Like Attiya, hundreds of dialysis patients across Gaza are now
forced to settle for fewer and shorter sessions each week.
“This leads to complications such as increased levels of toxins and
fluid accumulation … which could lead to death,” al-Yazigi said.
Mohamed Kamel of Gaza City is a new dialysis patient at the hospital
after being diagnosed with kidney failure during the war and
beginning treatment this year.
These days, “I feel no improvement after each session,” he said
during one of his weekly visits.
The father of six children said he no longer has access to filtered
water to drink, and even basic running water is scarce. Israel last
month cut off the electricity supply to Gaza, affecting a
desalination plant producing drinking water for part of the arid
territory.
Kamel said he has missed many dialysis sessions. Last year, while
sheltering in central Gaza, he missed one because of an Israeli
bombing in the area. His condition deteriorated, and the next day he
was taken by ambulance to Al-Aqsa Martyrs hospital.
“The displacement has had consequences,” Kamel said. “I am tired.”
___
Magdy reported from Cairo. Associated Press writer Cara Anna
contributed.
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