After being relentlessly decimated by bombs and starved of medical aid during Israel’s genocidal war, Gaza’s healthcare system remains on the brink of collapse despite nearly two months of a ceasefire.

Doctors in the war-ravaged, besieged enclave say they are struggling to save lives because Israel is not allowing the most essential medical supplies in. Sweets, mobile phones and even electric bicycles are permitted to enter, but antibiotics, IV solutions and surgical materials are banned.

“We are facing a situation in which 54 percent of essential medicines are unavailable, and 40 percent of the drugs for surgeries and emergency care – the very medications we rely on to treat the wounded – are missing,” Dr Munir al-Bursh, the director general of Gaza’s Ministry of Health, told Al Jazeera.

The ministry describes the shortages as unprecedented, stating that Israel is allowing just five trucks carrying medical supplies into Gaza a week. Three trucks deliver supplies to international organisations such as the UN and its partners, and just two to government-run hospitals.

That number is a tiny fraction of the aid Israel is obligated to supply Gaza under the ceasefire agreement – affecting other areas of Palestinian lives.

Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza continues unabated, with some 600 violations of the ceasefire in the two months.

“At least 600 trucks should be entering the Gaza Strip every single day, but what is entering is very little,” said Al Jazeera’s Hind Khoudary, reporting from Gaza City.

“Cooking gas is only at 16 percent of what is needed; there is a shortage of shelters, tents, tarps and everything Palestinians need to shelter from the rain. We see Palestinians collecting wood, cartons and anything they can light up a fire with.”

People living with chronic illnesses are bearing the burden of such restrictions.

Naif Musbah, 68, who lives in the Nuseirat refugee camp, has colon cancer – and the supplies he needs to be treated are not available.

“I need colostomy bases and bags so I can attach them to the stomach and the device in order to be able to pass stools. They are not available, nor are the bases, and we end up soiling ourselves. The situation is extremely difficult. There’s also no gauze, cold packs, adhesive tape, gloves or disinfectant solution – nothing,” Musbah told Al Jazeera.

With no way to manage his condition, the sick Palestinian man says he feels as if the war has robbed him of his dignity.

Meanwhile, doctors have been improvising with what little they have left, while the families of patients search for simple items to make the lives of their loved ones easier – items, they say, that should not be this hard to find.

During Israel’s genocidal war – which has spanned more than two years – nearly all of Gaza’s hospitals and healthcare facilities were attacked, with at least 125 health facilities damaged, including 34 hospitals.

According to Gaza’s Health Ministry, more than 1,700 healthcare workers, including doctors, nurses and paramedics, have also been killed in Israeli attacks.

Yasser Abu Shabab, who had worked in cooperation with the Israeli army, was killed in tribal clashes in Gaza, the public broadcaster KAN said, citing anonymous security sources.

Israeli TV channel i24 said that Abu Shabab succumbed to his injuries at Soroka Medical Center in southern Israel.

Amit Segal, an Israeli political analyst for Channel 12, called the militiaman’s death “a bad development for Israel” as “Hamas viewed him as a strategic threat to its rule.”

Last July, Hamas ordered the Gaza gang leader to surrender within 10 days, accusing him of collaborating with Israel and looting humanitarian aid.

Earlier, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu admitted that Israel is supporting an armed group in Gaza that opposes the Palestinian resistance group Hamas, following comments by a former minister that Israel had transferred weapons to it.

Israeli and Palestinian media have reported that the group Israel has been working with is part of a local Bedouin tribe led by Yasser Abu Shabab.

The European Council on Foreign Relations (EFCR) think tank describes Abu Shabab as the leader of a "criminal gang operating in the Rafah area that is widely accused of looting aid trucks".

Knesset member and ex-defence minister Avigdor Liberman had told the Kan public broadcaster that the government, at Netanyahu's direction, was "giving weapons to a group of criminals and felons".

Israeli forces killed five Palestinians, including two children, after bombing a tent in a previously designated humanitarian zone in Gaza on Wednesday.

At least four drone strikes were reported west of Khan Younis in southern Gaza late at night, targeting a makeshift camp for displaced people.

The attack occurred outside Israeli-controlled areas of the Gaza Strip, marking the latest violation of the ceasefire.

Israel claimed the bombing was in response to an exchange of fire earlier in the day between its troops and Hamas fighters trapped in tunnels in Rafah, who Israel has prevented from moving to western Gaza.

The Israeli military said five of its soldiers were wounded but provided no evidence to support the claim. It added that the strikes in Khan Younis targeted a “Hamas operative”.

Gaza Civil Defence spokesperson Mahmoud Basal rejected Israel’s account, saying the victims were sheltering in a camp considered “safe” and were not in a combat zone.

“How many more massacres must be committed before everyone understands that what is happening in Gaza is not a ‘response to an incident’ but a systematic and direct targeting of civilians?” Basal said.

Earlier, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused Hamas of violating the ceasefire and targeting troops.

“Our policy is clear: Israel will not tolerate the harming of IDF (Israeli army) soldiers and will respond accordingly,” he said.

Meanwhile, Hamas described Wednesday’s attack as a “blatant war crime” and the latest example of a “flagrant disregard for the ceasefire agreement”.

The group urged mediators to pressure Israel to halt attacks on civilians and to “rein in the occupation and stop Netanyahu’s government from evading its obligations”.

Second phase
The escalation on Wednesday came as Hamas and Islamic Jihad handed over the body of a captive buried in Gaza to Israel via the Red Cross.

Israel confirmed the body belonged to Thai national Sudthisak Rinthalak.

One remaining captive, police officer Ran Gvili, is still buried in Gaza, with ongoing efforts to locate him and return his body to Israel.

The completion of the handover of captives’ bodies is expected to increase pressure on both Israel and Hamas to move to the next stage of the ceasefire agreement.

US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that the next phase is “going to happen pretty soon,” amid concerns that talks have stalled.

Middle East Eye reported on Tuesday that the US is struggling to establish an international stabilisation force for Gaza, a key component of the second phase, due to disagreements with Israel over Turkey’s participation, according to two sources familiar with the matter.

Last month, the UN Security Council approved a resolution to create the force, securing official support from Turkey, Qatar, Egypt, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Pakistan, and Jordan. However, little progress has been made since then, the sources said.

Turkish officials have stated that Ankara is ready to contribute to the force, but Israel has opposed the presence of Turkish troops in the Gaza Strip.

The strikes on Wednesday were the latest in a series of Israeli violations of the ceasefire agreement, signed in October.

Nearly 600 breaches have been reported, in which more than 360 people were killed and 900 wounded.

Israel has also continued to block entry and exit for patients and civilians through the Rafah crossing with Egypt, in violation of the agreement, and has restricted aid deliveries, allowing only an average of 200 trucks per day out of the 600 agreed.