Engineers at Shifa Hospital in western Gaza City have restored six ultrasound machines and three mobile X-ray devices to service by salvaging usable parts amid a medical equipment crisis.
Attacks carried out by the Israeli army in the Gaza Strip since October 8, 2023, have damaged most of the hospital’s medical devices. Because of the blockade imposed on Gaza and restrictions on the entry of medical equipment and spare parts into the region, engineers are repairing faulty devices by removing intact parts instead of waiting for new equipment.
Repairs using available parts
Ahmed Yunus, an engineer working in the Medical Equipment Maintenance Department at Shifa Hospital, said spare parts for devices that broke down in previous periods could once be obtained from outside, but this is no longer possible under current conditions.
Yunus said approximately 15% of the hospital’s medical devices had been restored to a usable condition. He said there were no means to refurbish most of the equipment requiring renewal, adding that intact parts from irreparable devices were being used in other functioning devices and that work on diagnostic, laboratory and radiology equipment was continuing.
Imaging infrastructure severely damaged
Most of the buildings were destroyed or severely damaged following attacks on Shifa Hospital. The World Health Organization reported that most of the medical equipment had also become unusable.
Three computed tomography scanners, two magnetic resonance imaging machines and one catheterization device used to diagnose and treat cardiovascular diseases are out of service at the hospital. A device used to treat kidney and urinary tract stones was also put out of service after the room where it was located was destroyed.
Five X-ray devices used in different departments of the hospital were destroyed. Only three of the 11 mobile X-ray devices still available are working, while Yunus said some equipment that had been completely destroyed could not be repaired and its intact parts could not be used in other devices.
Yunus said restarting the devices did not mean they could be used at full capacity. He said most of the repaired ultrasound machines and a significant portion of the device components were damaged, adding that technical limitations prevented doctors from using some equipment at full capacity.
Shortage of medical equipment in Gaza
Yunus, a Palestinian engineer, said technical support from manufacturers outside Gaza was needed to repair the devices. He said five X-ray devices used in emergency departments, radiology units and outpatient clinics, particularly for diagnosing fractures and chest injuries, remained out of service.
Yunus said the equipment shortage was not limited to Shifa Hospital and had spread to health facilities across the Gaza Strip. According to the WHO, all 36 hospitals in the Gaza Strip had been damaged; as of the end of March, only 19 of them were able to provide partial services.
Hospitals continue to face shortages of medicines, medical equipment and medical supplies. The WHO reported that it had recorded more than 930 attacks on health care services in Gaza between October 2023 and the end of 2025, while damage to health facilities, laboratories and equipment had severely restricted diagnostic and treatment services.
Damaged devices delay medical intervention
Muhammad Amin Matar, head of the Radiology Department at Shifa Hospital, said the loss of most imaging devices had caused serious disruptions in diagnosing diseases.
Matar said some patients were unable to undergo the examinations needed to determine the nature of their injuries or illnesses because advanced imaging devices were unavailable. He said this could delay medical intervention and lead to complications, adding that rapid action was particularly important for critically ill or injured patients whose injuries or bleeding needed to be located and assessed quickly.
