Suffering cancer in Gaza. Cáncer en Gaza. ENG ESP

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Suffering cancer in Gaza

Thousands of Palestinian cancer patients are living without treatment as they await medical evacuation

24 January 2026

Photo: Aya Abu Hani with her son Ismail Abu Naji, who has been diagnosed with blood cancer and has been unable to leave Gaza for treatment. Photograph: Amjed Tantesh/The Guardian

Ismail Abu Naji was just 18 months old last 7 October 2023, his small body covered in swollen, bleeding lesions. Months earlier, doctors had diagnosed him with a rare blood cancer, one that, if untreated, is often a death sentence.

In the weeks before the war, Ismail’s family had arranged for him to be transferred to Al-Makassed hospital in Jerusalem, a charitable institution for Palestinians, for specialised care. But the blockade Israel imposed on Gaza after Hamas’s 7 October 2023 attack that triggered the genocide meant Ismail could not leave the territory.

He is now one of thousands of cancer patients in Gaza who the UN says require medical evacuation for urgent treatment.

Cancer patients trapped in Gaza, where doctors say cancer-related deaths have tripled since 7 Oct 2023, as Israel continues to hinder patients from leaving and restricts the entry of chemotherapy drugs. While some patients have left, they are far outnumbered by those deemed in medical need who have not. 

The Israeli NGO Physicians for Human Rights Israel (PHRI) says evacuation routes to third countries have become “near impossible” to operate, especially since the closure of the Rafah crossing in May 2024, and that Israel is failing to meet its obligation to provide medical care to populations under its control. The crossing between Gaza and Egypt is due to open for traffic next week, the Palestinian technocratic committee leader, Ali Shaath, said on Thursday, although Israel did not immediately confirm that would be the case.

With even basic painkillers having become unattainable under the blockade, there is little else Ismail’s mother, Aya Mohammed Abu Hani, who is living in a tent in a school, can do but try to ease his pain, gently dabbing the wounds with a cloth soaked in salt water.

“Ismail’s life before the war was already difficult, and it has become even harsher since. He cannot sleep due to severe pain, high fever and cries constantly”. “We were displaced many times from one place to another, which worsened his condition. I could not even provide him with enough clothing. Before the war, hospitals were able to offer antibiotics and painkillers. But now, they can’t even provide a single painkiller.”

Israeli airstrikes on hospitals have reduced the Palestinian healthcare system to ruins. In March 2025, Israel destroyed Gaza’s only specialised cancer treatment hospital, the territory’s sole provider of oncology care. Since then, doctors have been pushed into makeshift clinics, operating with almost no resources, including the tools needed for diagnosis.

“As for cancer diagnosis, we have reached an extremely critical stage,” said Dr Saleh Sheikh al-Eid, a specialist physician in haematology and oncology at Nasser medical complex in Khan Younis. “Basic diagnostic tools, such as biopsy needles, are unavailable. Patients come to us with obvious cancerous masses, yet we lack the means to take samples and examine them. As a result, we have lost many patients without even being able to properly diagnose or treat them.”

Israel Will Not Allow Gaza Residents to Receive Medical Treatment in West Bank, East Jerusalem Due to 'Security Risks'

In response to High Court petitions, the government stated that medical treatment could be exploited to help 'establish ties with terrorist activity, including recruitment, transfer of information and the establishment of terrorist infrastructure'
‘I wish I had the power to ease his suffering’: Gaza’s cancer patients trapped by war and blockade.

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