Published On 4/6/2026
Thousands of cancer patients in Gaza face the risk of death due to an acute shortage of oncology medications, at a time when the humanitarian situation is worsening due to the severe restrictions imposed by the Israeli occupation forces on the entry of aid, including medical materials and equipment necessary to save lives.
The Ministry of Health in Gaza said – in a statement – that the lives of more than 4,000 cancer patients have become threatened due to the scarcity of medicines, noting that the health and humanitarian conditions for cancer patients have reached a stage of “catastrophic deterioration.”
Patients’ suffering is exacerbated as two-thirds of the stock of cancer drugs (about 66%) in the Gaza Strip’s hospitals is almost exhausted.
In a report by Al Jazeera Mubasher correspondent Ola Abu Muammar from the Gaza Cancer Center in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip, the wife of one of the patients sits in a corner of the ward with signs of brokenness all over her face, recounting the details of their daily battle, saying, “My husband only took three chemotherapy doses, and he is now suffering from severe side effects after the pancreas removal operation. He needs cancer and kidney treatments on a daily and permanent basis, but we stand idly by. We cannot do anything for him in light of this stifling siege.”
As for Faraj Muhammad Abdel Qader Abdel Al, who is also a cancer patient, he summarized a tragedy extending over the years: “I have been sick for five years, and since last September I have not received any treatment dose. We are completely forgotten here. I call on human rights bodies, the World Health Organization, and the peoples of the world to stand with us and help us, because we are marginalized and no one cares about us. We only want to facilitate the entry of medicines.”
Increasing injuries
Officials in the medical sector confirm that the picture is getting darker, as Dr. Saleh Sheikh Al-Eid, head of the Oncology Department at the Gaza Cancer Center, explains that cases of the disease are witnessing a noticeable increase, matched by a sharp decrease and extreme scarcity of treatments.
Sheikh Al-Eid says, “Some basic treatments have already reached the stage of zero balance in stores,” adding, “The crossings are closed, patients are prohibited from traveling, and the health sector in general is experiencing its worst days, which has naturally led to a continuous increase in the number of deaths among patients.”
Regarding the nature of the treatment protocol currently being followed in light of the crisis, the head of the oncology department reveals a shocking reality; The patient is given traditional chemotherapy only as a “temporary withstand dose” to help him endure the pain, until he is allowed to travel to complete targeted immunotherapy and radiation, which are not available in the Gaza Strip.
Saleh confirms that most of the prescriptions that doctors currently write are nothing more than “painkillers,” and he says bitterly, “Even these painkillers lose their value and cannot be given to patients when cases reach advanced stages.”
Dr. Saleh Sheikh Al-Eid issues a cry for help that hopes to find listening ears in the international community, warning that if the situation continues as it is now, the death of these patients is an inevitable result.
The speaker appealed to the entire world, including the World Health Organization and humanitarian institutions, to look at this group with compassion, and to put immediate pressure to open the crossings, allow the entry of immunotherapies and medical devices, and save thousands of lives being consumed by the disease and the siege together.
