Thousands of cancer patients are being deprived of life-saving treatments due to Israeli restrictions on patients for medicine and treatment.
A school in southern Gaza has been converted into a shelter, a small, silly gesture of cancer is slowly losing out in the building.
After 15 chemotherapy sessions, 33 years old, he will not be able to go to the Palestinian mother, because the medicines that are currently available in this war-torn enclave are suitable for her cancer type. She is a mother of two children.
In Middle East Ike Abu Samud said, "I was diagnosed with liver cancer immediately after the birth of my mother, but after a few chemotherapy sessions, my physical condition only deteriorated."
The doctor told me that this treatment is not suitable for my body or condition. Chemotherapy has never cured my cancer; it is only the reason for my hair and nails to fall out.
The Israeli authorities have continued to restrict the entry of life-saving emergency medicines and medical equipment into Gaza after the ceasefire agreement of October 2025, including cancer drugs, chemotherapy, antibiotics, anesthetics, laboratory equipment, diagnostic equipment and surgeries.
According to the United Nations and international organizations, the stock of 46 percent of essential medicines and 66 percent of medical equipment was completely exhausted by last March.
This month, the Ministry of Health of Palestine has learned that the chemotherapy treatment of various types of cancer including breast, colorectal and gastrointestinal cancer, head and neck tumors and sarcoma has been stopped to a large extent due to the inventory of cancer special drugs.
The Ministry also said that out of 11,000 cancer patients in Gaza, at least 4,000 have been given medical referral referrals for better treatment, but they are still waiting for permission to go to Gaza.
Director of Gaza Center for Cancer Dr. Mohammad Abu Nada said, "Due to the extreme crisis, we were forced to use some of the drugs that have been used, and now they are also gone, which clearly have resulted in the death rate."
Abu Nada said that the extreme crisis of chemotherapy drugs that is currently going on is the most popular in the last few years.
For example, the medicine we have left for breast cancer is not enough for the present patients. If a new patient is identified, we do not have any treatment to give them.
Instead of following conventional treatment methods, doctors are now forced to rely on ‘single-drug therapy’ or only one drug.
Abu Nada said, "It clearly reduces the effectiveness of the treatment, can make the situation worse and cause more complications, which is also an acute crisis for our patients, which is increasing the risk for our patients."
‘The Endless Wait’
After the diagnosis, Abu Samud's medical referral was approved, because he had no medical treatment, but he was still waiting for Gaza after nine months.
He said, "The doctors told me that my medical treatment is available in Jordan or Turkey and there is no way to improve my condition from here. I am waiting for urgent transfer for treatment for nine months."
Through medical referrals, Gaza patients get the opportunity to undergo specialized treatment in hospitals in the occupied West Bank, East Jerusalem, Egypt and Jordan, which is not available for Gaza.
Although the Ministry of Health of the Palestinian Authority usually deals with this referral issue and its meaning, there is still a request for permission to cross the crossings under Israeli or Egyptian control.
Since the Gaza genocide began in October 2023, Israel has imposed strict restrictions on medical referrals and the surge of patients from Gaza, which has resulted in thousands of serious Sick and injured Palestinians are being deprived of local medical services.
Four months after the October ceasefire agreement, Israel will partially open the Rafa Crossing for patients on the Egyptian border across the Egyptian border for medical treatment under strict regulation. Its coverage is that only about 50 patients per day are allowed to be allowed to leave Gaza.
According to the Ministry of Health of Palestine, more than 20,000 people, including 4,000 children in Gaza, are waiting for emergency medical transfer.
After the reopening of Rafa Crossing in February, only 1,655 patients were taken to the fore till June 30. Since October 2023, more than 1,570 people have died in the state of Gaza's permission.
"My health is deteriorating with this endless wait, and countless more patients are waiting for the transfer before me," Abu Samud said.
"I'm suffering from breathing problems and my stomach is swollen due to fluid accumulation in my body, my weight is getting abnormally low; I've lost 20 kg so far. There are so many people when I can't eat anything because of fluid accumulation in my stomach; whenever I eat anything, I'm not able to eat anything."
A five-year-old son and a mother of a nine-month-month-metr said that since the birth of the child, she could not take the younger meteor at once.
He said, I am not able to fulfill any responsibilities towards my children. I have been bedridden due to illness. I never go out of bed and do not work at all. Now I can't walk for long. I get very tired after walking a little bit. I am slowly moving towards death.
