Gaza, (Palestine Foundation Information Center), Cancer in the Gaza Strip is no longer the only deadly threat facing thousands of patients. The lack of treatment, shutdown of diagnostic equipment, severe shortages of medicines, and restrictions on travel abroad for medical care are collectively accelerating the deterioration of patients’ health and diminishing their chances of survival. This horrific situation is unfolding after nearly three years of Israeli aggression, which has left Gaza’s healthcare system virtually paralyzed.
Describing the devastating situation, Dr. Mohammed Ibrahim Abu Nada, director of the Gaza Cancer Center, revealed that approximately 2,000 cancer patients have died during these years of Israeli aggression, an average of three deaths per day, compared with one death per day before the war. He issued a grave warning about the collapse of the healthcare sector and hospitals’ inability to provide even the minimum medical services necessary to save patients’ lives.
In a press statement, Dr. Abu Nada said Gaza’s healthcare system was facing an unprecedented and devastating crisis, with severe shortages of medicines, medical supplies, and fuel continuing unabated. Hospitals have lost much of their capacity to provide care. This situation is pushing thousands of patients, particularly those who require urgent medical intervention and regular examinations, closer to death with each passing day.
2,000 Deaths: Alarming Figures of Devastation
The deaths of cancer patients have emerged as one of the most painful indicators of the catastrophic state of healthcare in the Gaza Strip. Citing figures from the Ministry of Health, Dr. Abu Nada said the number of cancer patients who had died had reached 2,000, three times the pre-war level.
These figures reflect not only the severity of the disease but also the collapse of diagnostic and treatment services. Many patients cannot obtain essential medicines, while opportunities for timely medical intervention have virtually disappeared. As a result, the condition of patients awaiting chemotherapy, radiotherapy, or surgery has become increasingly critical.
The situation is further aggravated by the fact that approximately 21,000 patients suffering from various illnesses urgently require treatment outside the Gaza Strip. According to figures provided by Dr. Abu Nada, between 3,500 and 4,000 of them are cancer and tumor patients.
These patients are among thousands of Palestinians whose hopes of survival depend on obtaining permission to leave the territory. However, severe restrictions imposed by the Israeli authorities on patients’ movement, along with complicated and harsh medical evacuation procedures, have turned the waiting period itself into a potentially fatal threat to their lives.
Hospitals Helpless as Diagnostic Equipment Remains Out of Service
Speaking about the deterioration of the healthcare system, Dr. Abu Nada explained that none of the 36 hospitals in the Gaza Strip was operating at full capacity. Only 19 hospitals remained partially operational, amid extensive damage to medical facilities and a lack of essential equipment.
The crisis extends beyond the number of functioning hospitals to their actual ability to admit patients, diagnose illnesses, and provide appropriate treatment. The remaining medical centers are suffering from severe shortages of medicines and supplies, while damaged medical equipment has placed enormous additional pressure on healthcare workers and restricted their ability to deliver services.
Dr. Abu Nada revealed that approximately 78 percent of radiological imaging equipment had become completely inoperative or damaged. Of the 14 mammography machines used to detect breast cancer, only three remained functional. This has severely undermined the prospects of early breast cancer diagnosis and made patient monitoring exceptionally difficult.
The shortage is particularly serious because early diagnosis is fundamental to successful treatment and saving lives. The longer tumor diagnosis is delayed, the greater the risk of the disease spreading and the more complicated treatment becomes. This is happening when patients can neither afford to wait nor readily access alternative treatment options outside the territory.
Pink October in Gaza: A Battle Beyond Awareness
While October is observed worldwide through campaigns to raise awareness about breast cancer, the needs of female cancer patients in Gaza go far beyond conventional awareness initiatives. The crisis is not simply about recognizing symptoms or understanding the importance of early screening. It extends from the unavailability of diagnostic equipment and medicines to the near impossibility of obtaining surgery and radiotherapy.
Dr. Abu Nada stressed that “Pink October” carries a different and heartbreaking meaning in Gaza, where female patients are deprived of even the most basic necessities required to save their lives. He emphasized that the immediate priorities are the urgent provision of diagnostic equipment and medicines, ensuring access to surgery and radiotherapy, and guaranteeing timely treatment for patients both inside and outside the territory.
These urgent needs mean that female cancer patients are fighting not only a life-threatening disease but also a severely restricted and devastated healthcare system incapable of meeting their needs. Delays in diagnosis and interruptions in treatment are further diminishing their already limited chances of survival.
Treatment Outside Gaza: A Window of Hope Shut Tight
Medical evacuation outside the Gaza Strip has become one of the greatest challenges facing cancer patients, particularly those whose treatment is unavailable locally or who require specialized care that the remaining hospitals cannot provide.
Given the urgent need for treatment abroad among thousands of patients, the ability to travel has become directly linked to their chances of survival. This is happening while Gaza faces extreme shortages of medical resources and healthcare services are under pressure far beyond their capacity.
The devastating consequences are not limited to patients awaiting medical evacuation. They also affect those unable to obtain timely diagnoses, complete their courses of treatment, or undergo the regular examinations necessary to prevent their diseases from progressing.
Together, the crises involving medicines, diagnosis, treatment, and travel have created an enormous web of obstacles for cancer patients. Their cumulative effects continue to undermine patients’ health and prospects of recovery, while time remains a decisive factor that allows no further delay.
Saving Patients Requires Medicines and Access to Medical Evacuation
The facts presented by the director of the Gaza Cancer Center expose a crisis that extends far beyond medicine shortages. It has crippled the healthcare system’s ability to diagnose illnesses, provide treatment, and respond to medical emergencies. Nonfunctional equipment, reduced hospital capacity, shortages of medical supplies, and Israeli restrictions on patients’ movement are collectively eroding the chances of survival for cancer patients.
Under these devastating circumstances, urgent action is needed to deliver medicines and medical supplies, restore damaged equipment, support hospitals and healthcare workers, and facilitate the departure of all patients who require treatment unavailable in Gaza. This would enable them to reach specialized medical centers without further delays.
For a cancer patient, a shortage of medicine is not merely an interruption in a medical service, just as a malfunctioning diagnostic machine is not simply a delay in a routine examination. Every delay can allow the disease to worsen, and every missed treatment opportunity can become another dangerous turning point for a patient’s life.
In Gaza, where the healthcare sector continues to endure the devastating consequences of nearly three years of Israeli war and aggression, the struggle of cancer patients is no longer confined to fighting a deadly disease. It has become a desperate battle to obtain the right to treatment before time runs out.
