They are some of the quieter deaths from Israel’s war on Gaza, with no explosion, no debris. But the toll is striking.
The UN has said more than 40 percent of dialysis patients in Gaza have died since October 2023 due to Israeli attacks on health facilities or lack of access to medicines and equipment, exacerbated by the Israeli blockade.
UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric, during a news conference on Monday, said the continued Israeli strikes have rendered Gaza’s health infrastructure dysfunctional.
Over 400 patients, representing around 40 percent of all dialysis cases in the territory, have died because of a lack of proper treatment, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.
According to Gaza medics, the Israeli military destroyed the Noura Al-Kaabi Dialysis Centre, the lone provider of dialysis services to kidney patients in north Gaza.
“The destruction of this centre is a catastrophic blow to the health system,” a medic said, warning of dire consequences for the remaining patients.
“This is a disaster with consequences we cannot yet fully comprehend.”
Six of the seven specialised dialysis centres in Gaza have been destroyed during the war, the World Health Organization said earlier this year.
Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza has destroyed 78 out of 140 dialysis machines.
“These equipment shortages are exacerbated by zero stock levels of kidney medications,” the WHO said.
What is dialysis
Kidneys filter the blood, removing toxins, but if they are not functioning properly, such as in the case of chronic renal disease, the body can accumulate hazardous amounts of toxins and result in death.
Dialysis machines thus function as artificial kidneys.
“Delayed dialysis leads to increased levels of toxins and fluid accumulation in the lungs, which could lead to death,” the head of the nephrology and dialysis department at Gaza Al Shifa Hospital, Dr Ghazi al-Yazigi, told AP.
According to a report by the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights titled Report of Kidney Failure Patients Without Healthcare, 1,200 patients in Gaza with stage 5 chronic kidney failure require dialysis for 12 hours a week, with 3 sessions of 4 hours each.
From March 2 to March 13, 2025, 22 kidney failure patients died due to Israel’s closure of Gaza’s crossings and the prevention of all humanitarian supplies, including medicine and food.
Kidney failure patients in Gaza are left to fight for survival, desperately searching for any glimmer of hope that could lead them to a medical facility offering dialysis services, especially those remaining in Gaza City and northern Gaza.
Water tastes like gunpowder
According to Gaza medics, with limited options, many kidney patients were forced to rely on canned foods and legumes.
This led to dangerously high levels of toxins in their blood.
Patients had no choice but to drink rainwater that tasted like gunpowder due to the widespread Israeli bombardment across Gaza.
As a result, patients are in dire need of extended dialysis sessions to remove the accumulated toxins from their already weakened bodies.
The list of drugs and medical consumables for kidney patients was at zero stock, including blood pressure medications, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.
Additionally, the absence of critical antibiotics leads to severe health complications for patients, resulting in increased fatality.
Life is difficult
Israel’s blockade and numerous evacuation orders in Gaza pose yet another challenge to accessing regular care.
Mohamed Attiya, a kidney failure patient, has been displaced at least six times since fleeing his home near the northern town of Beit Hanoun in the first weeks of the war.
“There is no transportation. Streets are damaged,” Attiya said. “Life is difficult.”
He said he now has hallucinations because of the high levels of toxins in his blood.
“The occupation does not care about the suffering or the sick,” he said, referring to Israel.
