In a report released today, the Palestinian Center for Human Rights [PCHR] warns of the Israeli occupying forces’ persistent denial of cancer patients’ rights to treatment both within and outside the Gaza Strip. By destroying the Turkish-Palestinian Friendship Hospital, the specialized cancer treatment facility, last March, the IOF extinguished the hopes of over 12,500 cancer patients in Gaza for specialized medical care within the enclave. Furthermore, by restricting their travel, Israel has denied 91% of these patients their right to seek treatment abroad, posing a grave threat that has already led to the deaths of hundreds of patients during the ongoing year and a half of genocide against the population of the Gaza Strip.
The PCHR’s report, titled “The Silent Death: Cancer Patients Left to Die Waiting: Victims of Genocide in the Gaza Strip,” sounds the alarm regarding the approximately 2,700 cancer patients in critical condition whose access to treatment outside the Strip is obstructed by the IOF. It also cautions against the continued denial of all cancer patients’ right to treatment and medication, where shortages now exceed 85% of approved treatment protocols. This constitutes the subjection of these patients, along with the rest of the defenseless civilian population, to living conditions that lead to physical destruction and inflict severe physical and psychological harm.
The report indicates that Israeli forces deliberately leave cancer patients without treatment, making them direct victims of the ongoing genocide in the Gaza Strip. Only about 1,100 patients, mostly women and children, have been able to travel for treatment abroad, underscoring a policy of collective punishment against thousands of patients, particularly those whose lives depend on urgent travel.
Evidence presented in the report suggests that the IOF is undermining treatment capabilities within the Strip, coupled with the restriction of patients’ freedom to travel for treatment abroad, reflects their determination to kill Gazans slowly and mercilessly. Cancer patient mortality rates have risen to equal the total number of deaths recorded during all the years of the blockade combined, deaths resulting from the deliberate physical and psychological harm inflicted by the IOF by obstructing access to life-saving services and denying them specialized surgeries unavailable in Gaza’s hospitals.
The report also addresses the perilous living conditions endured by cancer patients. Thousands have been forced into repeated forced displacement and live in unsuitable tent environments
and shelters. Compounding this, psychological distress has led many to succumb to their illness and refrain from seeking examinations or follow-up care to complete their treatment, especially those who should be undergoing post-operative care and monitoring.
The report draws attention to a war crime committed by the IOF against patients in the Strip, including cancer patients. Israel imposes travel mechanisms that kill them through waiting. Even when patients receive security approval, they are evacuated with their companions without any guarantee of their return to the Gaza Strip after recovery. This constitutes a blatant violation of international humanitarian law. The report contextualizes these practices as the occupying forces’ use of forced displacement as a tool to depopulate a portion of the Strip’s residents after coercing them over their right to treatment, a practice criminalized by the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.
PCHR concludes its report by calling for urgent international intervention to save the lives of thousands of patients, to halt the use of their right to treatment as a tool for political blackmail, and to work towards holding the IOF accountable for their ongoing crimes against civilians, including cancer patients.
