Gaza’s Health System Collapses in War’s Most Inhuman Phase
Gaza is starving, and thousands have perished attempting to access food. Now, even physicians break down when rescuing lives. In a harrowing report, Deputy Medical Coordinator for Médecins Sans Frontières Dr Mohammed Abu Mughaisib described how starvation deconstructs the body — and how he is experiencing that collapse.
His account is greater than personal tragedy it represents an inner collapse. Gaza's health professionals, once the backbone of humanitarian aid, are now going hungry. As hospitals collapse, the frontline of care falls apart. This is no longer a hunger emergency. It is a slow, calculated erasure of human life, dignity, and capacity.
Dr Mughaisib said starvation occurs in stages. The body first uses its glycogen stores — accumulated sugars that supply the brain and organs. This takes around 6 to 24 hours. By day three, fat is mobilised and turned into ketones. The body starts full survival mode. Then comes the breakdown.
From two to five days without nutrition, the body begins to consume its muscle, the heart included. Organs are weakened. The mind becomes lethargic. Vital function dissolves. "This is when children stop crying," he said.
But the physician isn't merely describing it — he's living it. He has been subsisting on one meal per day for months. That is now reduced to one every two days.
"Not because I don't have enough money, but because nothing is available to purchase. The markets are totally empty," he replied.
The remark highlights a bitter reality: starvation is not the product of poverty. It's the product of total blockade and organized denial of access to food.
This is the new tipping point. Gaza's healthcare system, already besieged, now risks collapse within. Ambulance drivers starve. Health workers pass out transporting patients. "We are supposed to save lives when our own are being consumed slowly," Dr Mughaisib said.
This is the frontline collapsing from within. Those treating the injured now become victims. "This is not simply hunger, but the gradual erosion of life, capability, and humanity."
Gaza's war has now lasted 21 months. Since October 7, 2023, more than 59,000 Palestinians have been killed. More than 142,500 are hurt. At least 17,400 children are among the fatalities.
Humanitarian groups cry that famine is imminent. More than 470,000 people are going hungry — 71,000 of them children under age five. Since March 2, Israel's comprehensive blockade has severed nearly all food, fuel, water, and medicine.
At least 1,060 individuals have died attempting to reach food distribution centres. UN agencies charge Israel with weaponizing hunger — a charge Israel rejects as an excuse, attributing it to Hamas and "logistical challenges."
Gaza starvation is now designed, not accidental. The casualties are civilians, children, and now physicians. Starvation has become an instrument of war — a slow, invisible, and inhuman one. When the professionals trained to salvage lives start to succumb, what chance is there for the rest?
"This needs to end," said Dr Mughaisib. "To utilize food, water, and aid as tools of war in this world — it's not acceptable at all."
