RAFAH, Palestinian Territories, Feb  15, 2024 (BSS/AFP) - Mohammed Khader 
goes from one pharmacy to another in the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah, 
desperately searching for his relatives' medicines amid a deepening shortage 
after months of war.

       "This is the fifth pharmacy I've looked in," said the young man who was 
displaced from Jabalia refugee camp to Rafah.

       He is just one of hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians driven 
into the territory's southernmost city by Israel's relentless military campaign 
against the militant group Hamas.

       "I found only one type out of three types (of medication) prescribed by the 
doctor. My father has a perforated eardrum from the shelling and is in constant 
pain," Khader told AFP.

       He said his sister has chronic lupus and needs four types of treatment, but 
only one is available.

       "Her health is deteriorating quickly. She's in severe pain and we cannot do 
anything."

       The health ministry in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip warned this week of "a 
shortage of medications and medical supplies and the inability to supply more 
than 60 percent of the essential list of basic primary health care medicines".

       It said 350,000 people in Gaza who have chronic diseases do not have 
medication, warning of "serious health complications for patients".

       Pharmacist Mohammed Sahwil said from his pharmacy in Rafah that health care 
in the territory is going through "a catastrophic period".

       "Not all types of medication are available, especially for chronic diseases 
such as heart, pressure, diabetes and cancer," he said.

       "There's a shortage of children's medications, antibiotics and even 
painkillers.

       "Even alternative medicines that may help in some cases ran out several 
months ago."
       
       - 'We feel helpless' -
    
       
       At another pharmacy, Abdul Hadi Dahir apologised to a man searching for 
Parkinson's medication, as a frustrated woman also left the shop empty-handed.

       "The need for medicines has peaked, especially with the spread of disease 
and epidemics due to overcrowding, poor nutrition and living conditions," Dahir 
told AFP.

       He said many people he sees display symptoms of hepatitis.

       "We feel helpless. There are no medications and we cannot intervene without 
doctors' instructions."

       Around 1.4 million Palestinians, more than half the Gaza population, are 
now packed into Rafah in dire humanitarian conditions and at high risk from 
disease, according to the United Nations.

       The Gaza Strip has been under Israeli siege since 2007 when Hamas took 
power, but only small amounts of aid have been allowed into the territory since 
the Israel-Hamas war broke out more than four months ago.

       The health ministry has warned that the cramming together of so many 
displaced people and the cold weather "has increased the spread of respiratory 
and skin diseases and other infectious diseases" including hepatitis A.

       Th war erupted last October 7 after Hamas militants launched an 
unprecedented attack into southern Israel, resulting in the deaths of around 
1,160 people, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally based on 
official Israeli figures.

       Israel responded with a devastating military offensive against Gaza, which 
has killed 28,663 people, according to the latest health ministry toll.

       In western Rafah, more than 200 people queued outside the Kuwaiti Hospital 
pharmacy, waiting for their turn with medical prescriptions in hand.
       
       - Verge of collapse -
    
       
       "We stand for hours to get a single pill," said Jihan al-Quqa, who arrived 
at the pharmacy early in the morning.

       "They give us a pain reliever, but there are no antibiotics or treatments. 
The children and the elderly are sick."

       The displaced woman from Khan Yunis added: "My husband suffers from 
hypertension and diabetes and his leg is swollen, but we cannot get medicine 
for him.

       "The doctors say he has a vein blockage due to not taking his medicine."

       Abdullah al-Hajj, whose leg has been amputated, sits waiting in a 
wheelchair.

       "There's no pharmacy in Rafah that has painkillers so I can sleep at 
night," he said.

       Gaza's health care system is on the verge of complete collapse. The United 
Nations reports that none of the territory's hospitals is operating normally, 
and just 13 out of 36 facilities are partly operational.

       The World Health Organization warned on Wednesday that hospitals in Gaza 
lack sufficient supplies.

       Doctors are forced to amputate because they lack the necessary medicines to 
save patients' limbs, according to Dr Rik Peeperkorn, the WHO representative in 
Gaza.

       Every day, 60-year-old Nabil al-Othmani searches in vain for his epilepsy 
medication.

       "They tell me it's not available at all," he said, trying to hold back 
tears.
       Mohammed Yaghi, displaced from Gaza City, added: "We're dying slowly 
because of the lack of medicine and treatment inside Rafah city."