Gaza running out of blood as medics appeal for supplies

Anaesthetic, antibiotics, bone cement and painkillers needed to treat casualties

A Palestinian man carries his daughter next to a destroyed tower, following Israeli air strikes in Gaza city. EPA

Rockets are launched towards Israel from Gaza city. AFP

A Palestinian man stands next to his destroyed house after Israeli air strikes in Gaza city. EPA

Palestinian demonstrators clash with Israeli troops at the Hawara checkpoint south of Nablus city, in the occupied West Bank. AFP

A Palestinian protester collects stones amid clashes with Israeli security forces near the settlement of Beit El and Ramallah in the occupied West Bank. AFP

Palestinian firefighters work to extinguish a fire at a paint factory after it was hit by an Israeli air strike in Rafah, Gaza Strip. AP Photo

An Israeli soldier works at an artillery unit near the border between Israel and the Gaza strip, on the Israeli side. Reuters

Israeli relatives attend the funeral of Yigal Yehoshua in the city of Modiin. The Israeli man, 56, who was beaten in the city of Lod, died in hospital, police said. AFP

Israeli soldiers fire a 155mm self-propelled howitzer towards the Gaza Strip from their position along the border. AFP

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell urges President Biden to 'remain strong' in support of Israel's military campaign against Hamas. EPA

Eritrean asylum seeker Kahase Gerensae and his children take shelter in the stairwell outside their apartment in Ashdod, Israel, during a siren warning of rockets fired from the Gaza Strip. AP Photo

Palestinians walk among the rubble of a destroyed building after Israeli air strikes in Gaza city. EPA

A Palestinian child, who was wounded in overnight Israeli air strikes on the Gaza Strip, receives treatment at Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza city. Getty Images

Suzy Ishkontana, 7, and her father Riad Ishkontana, 42, survived an Israeli air strike that killed their family and destroyed their home. AP Photo

Hospitals in Gaza are running out of blood bags because urgently needed medical supplies have failed to reach the Palestinian territory, the World Health Organisation said on Wednesday.

More than 1,500 people have been wounded in 10 days of fighting between Gaza militants and Israel, the health ministry said, leaving doctors struggling to provide life-saving treatment.

A humanitarian convoy has twice been halted and medical supplies left behind, after Israel said the area came under rocket fire from Gaza.

“Most of the medical items in those trucks, we are urgently waiting for. Including blood bags,” said Sacha Bootsma, who runs the WHO’s Gaza office.

“They’re almost finished with,” she said of the blood bags, which are used to give critically wounded patients transfusions.

“This is the most urgent item that we were hoping to receive yesterday.”

Anaesthetic, antibiotics, bone cement used in trauma surgery and painkillers are all on a list of dozens of essential items needed to treat casualties of the conflict.

Israeli authorities said the border area came under fire on Tuesday and Wednesday, prompting the convoy to be stopped on both occasions.

Egypt has sent fuel – which is essential to keep hospital generators running – and medical supplies. Cairo’s donation was not co-ordinated with Gaza’s health authorities, however, and the WHO said it will take days to go through the cargo.

The ongoing conflict could also prove deadly for Gazans suffering from chronic diseases, such as those who would usually travel to Jerusalem for heart surgery or cancer treatment.

“If these people are not receiving this type of treatment within a certain time frame, their condition will deteriorate,” Ms Bootsma said.

“We do now have three people that, if they don’t go out now, they will surely die,” she said.

Two to three patients would normally cross daily and cases have been accumulating since Israel closed its crossings on May 10 when hostilities with Gaza militants began.

The difficulty of obtaining hospital appointments and the risky journey through North Sinai renders treatment in Egypt unfeasible.

Although Cairo has offered to treat some of those wounded in the fighting, WHO said only three Gazans have been transferred to Egypt so far.

At least 219 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza and 10 people in Israel killed by rocket fire from the enclave, according to health officials on both sides. Rocket fire has wounded 114 people in Israel.

While medics confront new casualties daily, Gaza’s infrastructure has been hit by intense Israeli air strikes. Six hospitals and a road leading to one of the main emergency rooms have been damaged, hindering ambulance access.

The Israeli military says its target is Hamas, which rules Gaza, and accuses the group of building tunnels used by fighters under civilian infrastructure.

“The destruction is absolutely disproportionate in terms of what you may expect for Israelis looking for Hamas militants,” said Ms Bootsma.

“The amount of destruction is just appalling.”