In Gaza, doctors are struggling to treat patients with limited resources, reminiscent of times long past. The Israeli blockade has crippled Gaza’s healthcare system, depriving hospitals of essential supplies like medications, surgical tools, and even clean water. What once functioned as a pressured but operational medical infrastructure has now deteriorated into facilities where doctors can only offer minimal, life-saving care. This harsh reality draws disturbing parallels to pre-modern combat medicine when survival often hinged on basic treatments and luck.
The blockade has severely diminished the availability of critical medical supplies, leading to frequent shortages of everything from drugs and anesthesia to simple bandages. Despite possessing modern medical knowledge, Gaza’s doctors are forced to practice medicine in conditions that some compare to the 19th century. With inadequate resources, they are tasked with treating war injuries, infectious diseases, and malnutrition — battling a dire situation with tools that belong in a past era.
An Unimaginable Year for Gaza’s Medical Community
The past year has been particularly devastating for the medical community in Gaza. Airstrikes and sniper fire have left adults and children alike with horrific injuries, including amputations and severe trauma. High-powered weaponry has caused injuries that demand advanced medical procedures — procedures that are not possible under current conditions. Without access to anesthetics, many patients are left to endure agonizing pain, while the lack of antibiotics leads to preventable deaths from infections.
This situation is exacerbated by the failure of basic sanitation systems. The blockade has cut off access to clean water, contributing to the spread of diseases like polio and Hepatitis A — diseases that have been virtually eradicated worldwide. In Gaza, however, they are resurfacing, with one child already paralyzed by polio. International organizations such as the World Health Organization (WHO) have launched immunization drives, but these efforts are only a temporary solution to a much larger, systemic issue.
A Grim Parallel: Gaza and the American Civil War
The medical crisis in Gaza bears striking similarities to the conditions of battlefield medicine during the American Civil War. During that time, doctors were just beginning to understand the importance of hygiene and infection control. Most deaths were caused by preventable diseases such as typhoid, malaria, and dysentery — diseases that are easily avoided with modern sanitation practices. In Gaza, doctors know how to prevent and treat such diseases, but they lack the necessary resources due to the blockade.
The blockade has left doctors powerless in the face of overwhelming need. Even though they possess modern medical knowledge, they cannot perform life-saving surgeries without anesthesia or stop infections without antibiotics. This is not a failure of medical science, but a deliberate restriction of resources — a denial of the tools that would allow doctors to save lives.
Civilians Bearing the Brunt of the Conflict
One of the most heartbreaking aspects of the crisis in Gaza is that civilians — not combatants — are bearing the majority of the suffering. Unlike the American Civil War, where most casualties were soldiers, the majority of deaths in Gaza are among civilians. Innocent people are being caught in the crossfire or killed by sniper fire during evacuations. Many more are dying slowly from untreated injuries, starvation, and preventable diseases.
The deliberate targeting of medical facilities has made it impossible for doctors to provide even the most basic care. Children who would have survived their injuries with proper treatment are now dying from infections. The return of diseases like polio and Hepatitis A only further emphasizes the tragic consequences of the blockade. Without intervention, the death toll will continue to rise, and the suffering of the people will only deepen.
A Call for Action
The ongoing conflict in Gaza reveals a deep moral failure where the denial of medical care has become a weapon of war. Despite warnings from international health organizations, world leaders have allowed the blockade to persist, depriving doctors of the means to save lives. The technological and medical advances of the 21st century are meaningless if they cannot reach those in need.
The world cannot stand idly by as the people of Gaza are subjected to conditions that should have been left behind in the 19th century. Immediate action is needed to lift the blockade and provide medical aid to those suffering in Gaza. The humanitarian disaster cannot continue unchecked — if it does, the people of Gaza will be condemned to a fate even worse than that of pre-modern medicine.
The time for action is now.