The Rafah Field Hospital updates - August 2026

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has launched an upgrade to its field hospital in Rafah, which has provided life‑saving care since opening in May 2024. The hospital is a partnership among 16 National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies—led by the Norwegian Red Cross—and hosts psychosocial support volunteers and ambulance teams from the Palestine Red Crescent Society. It remains one of the very few functional health facilities in southern Gaza, with its outpatient department serving as a primary health‑care provider for the area.

Following a lengthy approval process, the upgrade will bring meaningful improvements across the facility and expand capacity from 60 to 72 beds. Patients and staff will benefit from an improved operating theatre, upgraded emergency and outpatient departments, renovated maternity and pediatrics care, reduced overcrowding, and strengthened post‑surgical care.

Since May 2024, the hospital has facilitated more than 11,300 surgeries, 250,000 consultations, 1,200 deliveries, 19,200 physiotherapy sessions, and at least 1,500 blood transfusions. Every hospital in Gaza has reported damage or destruction since October 2023, and health facilities continue to face severe shortages of water, power, medical supplies, medicines, and essential equipment—much of which is still not permitted to enter Gaza.

Upgrading the Rafah Field Hospital is an important step forward, but given current conditions, far more support is needed. The long path to recovery can only be achieved by ensuring dignity for people in Gaza.

Your compassion and generosity are the driving force behind our efforts.

Thank you for standing with us in our humanitarian work to alleviate suffering for people affected by armed conflict in Gaza and beyond.