Gaza’s remaining hospitals, already shattered by months of bombardment, are being held together in part by medical students who have stepped into frontline roles as Israel’s war continues to decimate the territory’s health system. With tens of thousands wounded, dwindling supplies, and almost no fully functioning medical facilities left, students who have not yet graduated are now performing duties far beyond their training.

The situation has grown so desperate that senior UN officials say Israel has systematically targeted health infrastructure and personnel, leaving Gaza’s medical network “deliberately crippled.” According to the UN, dozens of hospitals and clinics have been destroyed, ambulance crews have been killed while responding to emergencies, and medical teams have been forced to work under constant threat of shelling.

For many of the students now working around the clock, the choice was not whether to help but how to survive while doing so. Students described treating complex trauma injuries, assisting in emergency surgeries, and managing overcrowded wards where patients lie on floors without access to anaesthesia or critical supplies.

International health bodies warn the collapse of Gaza’s medical system poses long-term dangers. The territory faces rising infections, untreated chronic disease, and an overwhelmed maternity sector, all while winter conditions intensify and electricity shortages worsen. Aid agencies say the limited humanitarian access permitted under the ceasefire is still nowhere near sufficient to stabilise the health crisis.

Medical educators and hospital directors, some of whom have lost staff to airstrikes, say the students have effectively become the backbone of Gaza’s medical response. Their involvement is buying time, but it is not a sustainable solution. Many students have missed months of formal training, and some have been displaced themselves, living in tents or damaged homes while continuing their work.

Health experts say rebuilding Gaza’s medical sector will take years even if the conflict stops immediately. For now, the students continue working with little protection, racing between emergency rooms, makeshift operating theatres, and overflowing triage areas.

Their resilience has drawn international admiration, but it also underscores the scale of the devastation. In a system once supported by thousands of trained professionals, it is now the youngest and least experienced who are keeping it alive.