"Living with cancer for six years, Naim had been approved for treatment abroad. But like thousands of others, he remains trapped in Gaza, barred from leaving by tightening Israeli restrictions. I used to receive treatment in the West Bank and Jerusalem, Naim told Al Jazeera's Tareq Abu Azzoum. Today, I cannot access any treatment at all. I need radiotherapy, and it no longer exists in Gaza."
"The epicentre of this crisis is the Turkish-Palestinian Friendship Hospital. Once the sole facility providing specialised oncology care in the Gaza Strip, it now stands as a hollowed-out shell. It resembles a ghost hospital after being turned into a military site during the war, Abu Azzoum reported. Israeli forces blew it up, leaving patients to fend for themselves. With the main facility destroyed, doctors have been forced into makeshift clinics with zero resources."
Since October 2023, cancer-related deaths in Gaza have tripled as patients face blocked exits and restricted chemotherapy supplies. Approximately 11,000 cancer patients remain stranded in the enclave with no access to radiotherapy or chemotherapy. Specialized oncology care at the Turkish-Palestinian Friendship Hospital has been destroyed, forcing clinicians into makeshift clinics lacking diagnostic equipment and medicines. Patients approved for treatment abroad are unable to leave due to tightening restrictions. Medical directors report total helplessness, no equipment to diagnose disease, and absence of chemotherapy. The collapse of the healthcare system has made many cancer diagnoses functionally fatal.
Read at www.aljazeera.com
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]