Gaza Doctor Returns After 665 Days in Israeli Prison, Finds Healthcare in Collapse
Dr Ahmed Muhanna, a senior anaesthesiologist and emergency medicine specialist, returned to Gaza earlier this year after spending 665 days in Israeli detention. He found a healthcare system on the edge of collapse, with hospitals stripped of basic supplies and patients dying from easily treatable conditions.
A Devastating Homecoming
Dr Muhanna had been arrested in December 2023 while working at al-Awda Hospital, which was under siege at the time. After his release and transport back across the border into Gaza, he travelled through the devastated territory. The scale of destruction left him overwhelmed.
"When I saw what had happened to Gaza, I felt my chest tighten. Everything I remembered was gone," he said.
He returned to al-Awda Hospital to find a facility stripped of staff, equipment, and medicines. According to reports, 75 of his colleagues from the hospital were killed while he was in detention.
Healthcare System Pushed to Breaking Point
Across Gaza, the toll on medical workers has been severe. More than 1,200 Palestinian health professionals have been killed since the war began, with hundreds more detained. Despite a ceasefire that is formally still in place, doctors say the healthcare system is being pushed to breaking point by disease, malnutrition, and a lack of essential treatment.
"We are treating patients in a system that has been deliberately broken. People are dying not because their conditions are untreatable, but because we no longer have the tools to treat them," Dr Muhanna said.
International agencies warn that Gaza's humanitarian crisis remains severe. The World Health Organization estimates that more than three-quarters of the population, including around 100,000 children, face acute food insecurity. Doctors report a surge in severely malnourished children arriving at hospitals with weakened immune systems, organ failure, and life-threatening infections.
Critical Equipment Missing in Hospitals
One of the most alarming consequences of the war is the loss of advanced diagnostic and treatment tools. Dr Muhanna says there is now not a single functioning MRI scanner in Gaza and only one working CT scanner. Dialysis machines are scarce, leading to a growing number of kidney failure deaths. Cancer patients are unable to receive chemotherapy or radiation as their tumours continue to spread.
Without imaging equipment, doctors are often forced to make life-or-death decisions based on guesswork.
"We are flying blind. You cannot practise modern medicine without diagnostic tools," Dr Muhanna said.
According to the UN human rights office, 94 per cent of Gaza's hospitals have been damaged or destroyed during the war. Newborn babies, cancer patients, and people with chronic illnesses are among the most vulnerable.
"There is no margin left in this system. Every shortage becomes a death sentence," said Dr Muhanna.
International Aid Under Threat
The crisis is expected to deepen further after Israel announced it would revoke the operating licences of dozens of international aid organisations working in Gaza and the occupied West Bank. Among those affected are major medical charities such as Médecins Sans Frontières, which have played a critical role in keeping Gaza's hospitals running.
Human rights groups and UN investigators have accused Israel of systematically dismantling Gaza's healthcare system and blocking humanitarian aid. A UN commission has said Israel's actions may amount to genocide, citing the destruction of hospitals and the restriction of food, medicine, and fuel.
Israeli authorities deny these accusations, saying their military actions target Hamas and that aid restrictions are based on security concerns.
A Man-Made Collapse
For doctors like Dr Muhanna, the political arguments feel far removed from the daily reality inside Gaza's wards.
"We are watching patients die from infections, dehydration, cancer and kidney failure because we do not have what we need to treat them. This is not a natural disaster. This is a man-made collapse of healthcare," he said.
The situation highlights the severe humanitarian emergency in Gaza, where the healthcare system's collapse is leading to preventable deaths on a large scale.
