yet remained unable to reach them. Of the 2,217 Palestinians killed during
the 2014 attacks on Gaza, 511 died without receiving medical assistance
because the ambulance drivers could not obtain the necessary permission
from the Israeli military to reach them.257
Gaza’s Health System under Pressure by the Blockade
The blockade on Gaza has had serious consequences for Gaza’s health
system, as the blockade, combined with other restrictions imposed by Israel,
limits the range and number of materials allowed into the Gaza Strip. The
Palestinian Ministry of Health’s central drug store in Gaza reported in 2014
that 25.7 percent of the medicines on the essential drug list, and 47 percent of
medical disposables, were at or near zero stock.258 The low stock of essential
drugs is both a direct result of the serious restrictions on goods allowed into
Gaza, but is also indirectly a result of the poor economic situation, resulting
from the blockade and the occupation in general, which has crippled the
Palestinian economy.259 At the same time, this situation forces the Palestinian
Authority to buy medicine at much higher prices than neighboring Arab
countries.260 Furthermore, following Israel’s attacks on the Gaza Strip in 2014,
the UN Health Cluster Damage and Needs Assessment found that “nearly
50 percent of Gaza’s medical equipment is outdated and the average wait
for spare parts is approximately six months.”261 Because of the blockade, not
only is medicine difficult to obtain for Palestinians, but so too are the basic
construction materials needed to reconstruct the 17 hospitals and 45 primary
healthcare centers damaged during the 2014 attacks.262 However, as of June
2015, less than one percent of the construction materials needed in Gaza had
been permitted to enter by Israel.263 Moreover:
257 Al Mezan Center for Human Rights, “No More Impunity: Gaza’s Health Sector under Attack”, 2015,
page 23. Available at: http://www.map-uk.org/downloads/no-more-impunity--gazas-health-sectorunder-attack.pdf
258 Claude de Ville de Goyet, “Report of a Field Assessment of Health Conditions in the Occupied
Palestinian Territory (oPt)”, World Health Organization, 2015, page 7. Available at: http://applications.
emro.who.int/docs/Cons_Rep_2015_EN_16311.pdf?ua=1
259 OCHA – Occupied Palestinian Territories, “The Gaza Strip: The Humanitarian Impact of the Blockade”,
July 2015, page 1. Available at: www.ochaopt.org/documents/ocha_opt_gaza_blockade_factsheet_
july_2015_english.pdf
260 Physicians for Human Rights, “Divide & Conquer: Inequality in Health”, January 2015, page 40.
Available at: http://www.phr.org.il/uploaded/Divide%20and%20Conquer%20ENG%20REPORT%20
JAN%202015.pdf
261 Claude de Ville de Goyet et al., “Report of a Field Assessment of Health Conditions in the Occupied
Palestinian Territory (oPt)”, World Health Organization, 2015, page 7. Available at: http://applications.
emro.who.int/docs/Cons_Rep_2015_EN_16311.pdf?ua=1
262 OCHA – Occupied Palestinian Territories, “Humanitarian Atlas 2015”, 2015, page 45. Available at:
http://www.ochaopt.org/humatlas2015/files/res/downloads/humatlas2015.pdf
263 OCHA – Occupied Palestinian Territories, “The Gaza Strip: The Humanitarian Impact of the Blockade”,
July 2015, page 1. Available at: www.ochaopt.org/documents/ocha_opt_gaza_blockade_factsheet_
july_2015_english.pdf
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