Gaza Faces Catastrophic Health Crisis, Project HOPE Expands Programming
More than a year of conflict in Gaza has created an unprecedented health crisis, with over 2 million Palestinians facing a catastrophic lack of medical care amid widespread destruction of health care facilities. As the death toll rises and people continue to seek care for malnutrition, injuries, pregnancy, chronic diseases, and infectious diseases, Gaza’s remaining hospitals are overwhelmed and struggling to function. According to the UN, 90% of the population has been displaced — many multiple times — forcing thousands of families into makeshift shelters without basic sanitation. Overcrowded camps have become epicenters for infectious disease outbreaks, including hepatitis B and acute respiratory infections.
In response, Project HOPE is launching seven mobile medical units that will rotate across 15 sites in Deir al Balah and Khan Younis, delivering free primary care, sexual and reproductive health services, referrals as needed, and medications. Medical teams are strategically positioned to serve displacement camps where families lack access to clean water, adequate nutrition, shelter, sanitation facilities, and basic healthcare. Each mobile unit is staffed with doctors, nurses, and midwives, alongside specialists in gender-based violence support and mental health. Project HOPE is also constructing emergency sanitation facilities with clean water access to combat the spread of waterborne diseases in overcrowded camps.
Rabih Torbay, CEO and President of Project HOPE, said:
“We are running out of words to illustrate the severity of the health crisis in Gaza. It is dire. It is unethical. It is a disaster. The confirmed death toll in Gaza has surpassed 42,000, but the true human cost of this crisis is likely far greater. We’re witnessing deaths not only from direct violence, but from systemic health care collapse – people dying from malnutrition, lack of insulin and other critical medications, and absence of basic medical care.
Families are trapped in an impossible situation, forced to move repeatedly between increasingly dangerous locations. When we secure robust shipments of medicine and medical supplies, delivery into Gaza takes months of coordination. The conditions in displacement camps – where there are seas of ripped tents and hundreds share a single toilet – have created a breeding ground for disease to spread. As temperatures continue to drop, we expect to see a surge in severe respiratory infections.
While our mobile medical teams will provide vital care to people – children, pregnant women, and people living with chronic diseases – with nowhere else to turn, preventable deaths will continue until we see both an immediate ceasefire and a significant expansion of humanitarian aid and access. We are doing what we can to help but the only way to alleviate suffering is for the violence to end.”
Project HOPE has team members available for interviews. For media inquiries, contact media@projecthope.org or Bria Justus at +1 503-764-7864.
