“We are dying. Every day, between two and three patients die in this hospital,” said Munther Abu Foul, a cancer patient lying on his bed in Gaza’s largest hospital. “I can’t get out of bed because of the pain. We want a solution: open the crossings.”
His words reflect the reality faced by thousands of cancer patients in the Gaza Strip, where access to specialized care has collapsed and evacuation for treatment abroad remains out of reach for many.
Local health organizations warn that around 11,000 patients are currently deprived of specialized or diagnostic cancer treatment in Gaza.
Some 4,000 patients who were referred to hospitals outside the Gaza Strip have been waiting for more than two years before they can travel.
PK Press Club visited Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, documenting the dire conditions within its oncology department. Patients crowd the corridors and wards, waiting for consultations or treatments that are no longer available.
Essential medicines and equipment are in short supply, while many patients suffer from chronic pain that leaves them barely able to move.
A man takes care of his brother, who has cancer, at Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City.
“Every day, two or three patients die”
Mr. Abu Foul flips through his medical transfer papers, issued long ago for treatment outside Gaza. He has not been able to travel for more than two years.
“The health situation in the Gaza Strip is dilapidated,” he said. “There is no treatment or medicine and we are dying. Every day, two to three patients die here in this hospital. I can’t get out of bed because of the pain.”
He calls directly for help. “We want a solution. Open the passages properly so that God frees us from this suffering. Everyone will be held accountable.”
Nearby, Mohamed Hammou takes care of his elderly mother, also suffering from cancer. He says families are forced to watch their loved ones deteriorate without care.
We want a solution. Open the passages correctly so that God frees us from this suffering – Abu Foul
“This is how we find ourselves faced with a patient who is dying, without treatment or any medical facility that helps him recover,” he says. “This does not please God and it does not satisfy people. We call on Islamic, Arab and international nations to look at the sick with mercy.”
A brother who suffers
In another room, Raed Abu Warda cares for his brother Hamid, whose cancer has worsened after long delays in treatment. What started as a small, benign illness has become a life-threatening illness.
“He has been suffering from cancer for two years,” Raed explains. “He waited all this time for the passage to be opened so he could be treated outside. His pain increased, as you can see.”
He points to a wound that opened under his brother’s chin. “The illness created this injury, and his condition gets worse every day. I look at my brother and cry over his condition because of the pain.”
The health situation in the Gaza Strip is deteriorating for people suffering from life-threatening cancers, despite the limited opening of the Rafah crossing.
The number of patients seeking treatment in Gaza’s oncology wards continues to rise, even as hospitals face severe shortages of medicines, equipment and specialist staff. For newly diagnosed patients, the future is increasingly uncertain.
Evacuations far below needs
With the limited reopening of the Rafah crossing, the World Health Organization (WHO) supports the evacuation of patients and their companions from Gaza, focusing on transport security. Yet the scale of need far exceeds what is currently possible.
All we ask is a way to live
More than 18,000 patients – including around 4,000 children – are waiting to be evacuated abroad to receive medical care, according to the WHO.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported last week that Gaza’s health ministry recorded more than 1,200 patient deaths as people waited for medical evacuation. Around 4,000 cancer patients remain on critical waiting lists, stuck between closed passages and a health system pushed beyond its limits.
For patients like Munther Abu Foul, time is running out. “We are dying,” he repeats. “All we ask for is a way to live.”
