In a stark illustration of Gaza’s collapsing healthcare system, the Palestinian Ministry of Health has announced a total suspension of intravenous chemotherapy and follow-up treatment for cancer patients. This critical service stoppage, blamed on Israel’s ongoing blockade and military campaign, leaves approximately 11,000 patients, many of them women and children, without the lifeline they so desperately need.
Following the forced evacuation of the Gaza Cancer Center and the European Hospital in the south, patients now face a desperate race against time. At least 5,000 of them require immediate transfers outside Gaza to survive, but closed crossings and bureaucratic hurdles have left them stranded. The health ministry reported that nearly two-thirds of essential cancer medications are now unavailable, while diagnostic equipment has been destroyed or rendered useless by fuel shortages and bombardment.
“The suffering is no longer medical, it is humanitarian and moral,” said one official from the Ministry of Health. “Every day without treatment is a death sentence.”
Medical experts and international observers warn that the deliberate obstruction of cancer care may constitute a violation of international humanitarian law. Human rights organisations, including Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), have described the targeting of healthcare infrastructure and denial of medicine as part of a wider strategy aimed at breaking the spirit of a besieged population.
According to the WHO, repeated requests to deliver cancer treatments and permit medical evacuations have largely been denied or delayed, further endangering patients' lives. The Health Ministry has now called on the international community to urgently intervene and ensure unimpeded access to medicine and care. In Gaza, where even the fight against cancer has become a casualty of war, silence can no longer be an option.
Source : Safa News
