A Year After the Ceasefire, Gaza's Health System Still in Collapse

On 10 October 2026, Al Jazeera and Israeli rights group Physicians for Human Rights-Israel marked the first anniversary of the Gaza ceasefire with sobering health data. All 36 hospitals in the Strip have been damaged by sustained attacks since October 2023, and only half remain even partially functional. No hospital is operating at full capacity; 51% of essential medicines are at zero stock; and more than 18,500 injured or chronically ill patients - including children with cancer, kidney failure and complex trauma - are still awaiting medical evacuation abroad. Gaza's Health Ministry says at least 1,481 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks since the ceasefire took effect on 10 October 2025, and the enclave's healthcare personnel remain depleted, with hundreds killed or detained. Vaccination campaigns for children have resumed only intermittently, and WHO warns of growing risks of polio, measles and water-borne disease amid damaged sewage systems and overcrowded shelters. Aid agencies say rebuilding primary care will take years, as 100 NGOs described the truce as 'existing in name only'.