Hospital functionality in the Gaza Strip: Analysis of the World Health Organization health resources and services availability monitoring system database, 7 Oct 2023 to 31 Oct 2024

Conflict and Health

Vol. 20

Date of Publication: February 23 2026

This study analyzes hospital functionality across 35 hospitals in the Gaza Strip during the first 13 months of conflict using WHO monitoring systems. It shows a rapid collapse in health system capacity: by late October 2023, nearly 30% of hospitals were nonfunctional, and overall functionality dropped to about 14% at its lowest point in April 2024. Functionality never exceeded one-third after December 2023, highlighting the severe and sustained disruption of hospital services and the resulting impact on access to critical care.

Citations

Mills, David, Yara Asi, Dennis Kunichoff, Erica Nelson, Juliana Nasser, Shannon Barkley, Ryan Arias Delafosse, Corey Scher, Osama Tanous, Weeam Hammoudeh, Bram Wispelwey, Nadine Bahour, Richard Peeperkorn, Egmond Evers, Lianne Gonsalves, Jamon Van Den Hoek, and P. Gregg Greenough. 2026. Hospital functionality in the Gaza Strip: analysis of the World Health Organization health resources and services availability monitoring system database, 7 Oct 2023 to 31 Oct 2024. Conflict and Health 20, no. 1 (February): 35. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13031-026-00772-7