An Israeli military armoured vehicle near the border fence with the besieged Palestinian territory on September 17, 2025. AFP
The blackout has severed the popoulation, hospitals, and emergency services from the outside world just as the Palestinian Health Ministry warned the sector is on the brink of total collapse.
“The Israeli occupation is deliberately obstructing World Health Organisation (WHO) efforts to deliver fuel to Gaza’s hospitals,” the ministry wrote on Facebook.
It warned that without urgent fuel deliveries to power generators, several hospitals would be forced to shut down within days.
Facilities at risk include the Al-Sahaba Medical Complex, the General Service Hospital, Gaza’s central oxygen plant, and ambulance services.
“The shutdown of the central oxygen plant and ambulance services would mark the onset of a severe health and humanitarian disaster,” the ministry said, urging immediate international intervention to secure fuel access.
The crisis comes as Israeli troops and tanks push deeper into Gaza City on the second day of an expanded ground assault.
Israel’s occupation army said air and artillery units had carried out more than 150 strikes on the city in recent days before ground forces advanced.
Overnight strikes killed at least 16 people, including women and children, according to hospital officials.
Half of the casualties were reported in famine-stricken Gaza City, including a child and his mother killed in their apartment in Shati refugee camp, officials at Shifa Hospital told AP.
Israeli bombardment has toppled high-rise towers in areas packed with displaced people living in tents.
On Tuesday night, multiple Israeli strikes hit the Rantisi Hospital for children, forcing half of its 80 patients to flee.
Around 40 patients, including four children in intensive care and eight premature babies, remain in the hospital with 30 medical workers, the health ministry said.
An estimated 1 million Palestinians lived in Gaza City before Israel forced civilians to evacuate ahead of the assault. The Israeli army says 350,000 "have fled", while the United Nations (UN) estimates more than 238,000 have been forcibly displaced from northern Gaza in the past month.
Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza has killed over 64,900 Palestinians since its outbreak in October 2023, with most of those killed being women and children.
On Tuesday, the UN’s Independent International Commission of Inquiry accused Israel of committing genocide in Gaza in an attempt to “destroy the Palestinians” there, blaming Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other senior officials for incitement.
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