‘We Just Sit and Cry’: Gaza’s Cancer Patients Die Without Treatment
For Hani Naim, waiting is no longer about recovery — it is about survival. Living with cancer for six years, he once received treatment outside Gaza. Today, like thousands of others, he is trapped, unable to leave and unable to access life-saving care.
Doctors say Gaza’s healthcare system has effectively collapsed. Since the war began, cancer-related deaths have surged dramatically. Chemotherapy and radiotherapy are largely unavailable, turning a cancer diagnosis into a near-certain death sentence for many patients.
The Turkish-Palestinian Friendship Hospital, once the enclave’s only specialised oncology centre, now stands destroyed. Medical teams operate from makeshift facilities without diagnostic tools or essential drugs.
Even palliative care is severely limited. Painkillers are rationed and reserved for the most critical cases. In Khan Younis alone, doctors report that several cancer patients die each day.
Thousands of patients have approvals for treatment abroad but remain unable to cross borders. For the doctors who remain, the emotional toll is immense.
“A doctor without tools is powerless,” one physician said. “All that’s left is to sit beside the patient — and cry.”
