For Hani Naim, the wait is not for a cure, but for permission to save his own life.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
\u201cI used to receive treatment in the West Bank and Jerusalem,\u201d Naim told Al Jazeera\u2019s Tareq Abu Azzoum. \u201cToday, I cannot access any treatment at all. I need radiotherapy, and it no longer exists in Gaza.\u201d<\/p>\n
Naim is one of 11,000 cancer patients currently stranded in the enclave, where the healthcare system has collapsed entirely.<\/p>\n
According to doctors, the number of cancer-related deaths has tripled since the October 2023 start of Israel\u2019s genocidal war on Gaza. With no chemotherapy, no radiotherapy, and no way out, a cancer diagnosis has become, for many, an immediate death sentence.<\/p>\n
A \u2018ghost hospital\u2019<\/h2>\n
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.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt resembles a ghost hospital after being turned into a military site during the war,\u201d Abu Azzoum reported. \u201cIsraeli forces blew it up, leaving patients to fend for themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n
With the main facility destroyed, doctors have been forced into makeshift clinics with zero resources.<\/p>\n
In an interview with Al Jazeera Mubasher, Mohammed Abu Nada, the medical director of the Gaza Cancer Centre, described a situation of total helplessness.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have lost everything,\u201d Abu Nada said. \u201cWe lost the only hospital capable of diagnosing and treating cancer\u2026 We are now in Nasser Medical Complex, but unfortunately, we have no equipment to diagnose the disease, and we have no chemotherapy.\u201d<\/p>\n Despite recent ceasefire agreements that were supposed to allow aid into the Strip, essential medical supplies remain blocked.<\/p>\n Abu Nada dismissed claims that aid is flowing freely, noting that while some commercial goods have entered, life-saving drugs have not.<\/p>\n \u201cThey brought in chocolates, nuts, and chips \u2026 but treatments for chronic diseases, cancer treatments, and diagnostic devices have not entered at all,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is just propaganda,\u201d he added. \u201cWe appealed to the World Health Organization \u2026 to at least provide us with treatment if we are not allowed to leave. But on the contrary, what we had has run out.\u201d<\/p>\n Abu Nada estimated that 60 to 70 percent of cancer protocols are completely unavailable. Because chemotherapy often requires a specific sequence of drugs, missing even one component renders the entire treatment ineffective.<\/p>\n Even palliative care is failing. Painkillers \u2014 essential for managing the agony of advanced cancer \u2014 are now being rationed.<\/p>\n \u201cWe try to prioritise,\u201d Abu Nada explained. \u201cThose with widespread cancer are given some, and those who are still on safe ground \u2026 we do not give them any.\u201d<\/p>\n The human toll of these shortages is stark. Abu Nada revealed that in the Khan Younis area alone, two to three cancer patients die every single day.<\/p>\n \u201cThe result is that cancer spreads in the patient\u2019s body like wildfire,\u201d he said. \u201cWe have gone back 50 years in cancer treatment.\u201d<\/p>\n Currently, 3,250 patients have official referrals for treatment abroad, but are unable to cross the border due to the closure of the Rafah crossing and Israeli bans on medical evacuations.<\/p>\n For the remaining medical staff, the psychological burden is immense.<\/p>\n \u201cSome specialists have left Gaza,\u201d Abu Nada said. \u201cBut even for those who remain, what use is a doctor without tools?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe doctor has nothing left to do but sit and cry next to this patient who is denied treatment and denied travel.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n For Hani Naim, the wait is not for a cure, but for permission to save his own life. 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. \u201cI used to receive treatment in the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8031,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8030","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-middle-east-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8030","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8030"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8030\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/8031"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8030"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8030"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8030"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Interactive-Humanitarian](\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Interactive-Humanitarian-graphics-all_DEC31_2025-1767183659.png?quality=80\")
<\/strong>\u2018Chocolates but no medicine\u2019<\/h2>\nA silent killer<\/h2>\n
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