The World Health Organization (WHO) has issued a stark warning that Gaza’s already decimated health system is on the verge of total collapse, with its last functioning hospitals in Khan Younis—Nasser Medical Complex and Al-Amal Hospital—now at serious risk of becoming non-operational.

Once the main referral facility in the southern Gaza Strip, Nasser Medical Complex is considered the backbone of what remains of Gaza’s healthcare infrastructure. Al-Amal Hospital is also a critical lifeline. Together, these are the final two public hospitals still functioning in Khan Younis, where a majority of the displaced population has taken refuge. According to WHO, if these hospitals fall, residents will lose access to virtually all emergency and essential medical care in the area.

Although Israeli authorities have not formally ordered the evacuation of these facilities, both hospitals fall within or on the edge of the evacuation zone announced on June 2. The WHO states that the Israeli military has informed Gaza’s Ministry of Health that access roads to these hospitals will be blocked, raising severe concerns about the ability of medical staff and patients to safely reach or exit the premises. Humanitarian workers warn that without a guarantee of safe passage, the hospitals may soon become unreachable.

“These hospitals are operating far beyond their capacity, even as people with life-threatening injuries continue to arrive seeking urgent care,” WHO said in its statement. “A dire shortage of essential medicines, surgical supplies, and medical equipment is compounding the crisis.”

The implications of the hospitals going offline are catastrophic. Nasser and Al-Amal together provide 490 beds. Their loss would shrink the number of functioning hospital beds in Gaza to fewer than 1,400—40% fewer than before the conflict began—leaving 2 million people with dangerously inadequate access to care. Services at risk include emergency surgery, intensive care, cancer treatment, dialysis, blood transfusions, and more.

The WHO stressed that health workers and humanitarian organizations have heroically kept the healthcare system afloat under extreme conditions for over 20 months. However, repeated bombardments, severe movement restrictions, denial of aid, and deliberate targeting have systematically dismantled Gaza’s health infrastructure.

“The relentless and systematic decimation of hospitals in Gaza has been going on for too long. It must end immediately,” WHO urged. “Hospitals must never be militarized or targeted. They are sanctuaries for the sick and injured—not battlegrounds.”

The agency is urgently calling for the protection of Nasser and Al-Amal hospitals and immediate, safe access for humanitarian supplies and personnel. WHO also demanded that essential medicines and equipment be delivered into Gaza without delay through all possible channels.

As the health crisis spirals into an outright humanitarian catastrophe, WHO’s appeal serves as a final alarm: the last threads holding Gaza’s health system together are fraying. Without immediate international intervention, they may snap entirely—leaving an already devastated population with nowhere to turn.