The health sector in Gaza is facing an unprecedented collapse, threatening the lives of thousands of injured individuals whose only dream is to leave the Strip for treatment. This tragedy is embodied in the story of a young woman from Al-Bureij refugee camp, who has suffered severe leg injuries since June 2024 due to an attack on her family's home. She requires complex bone and joint grafting surgeries, medical procedures that have become impossible within the shattered hospitals in the Strip.
This young woman is just one of over 20,000 injured and wounded individuals struggling with pain while awaiting the opening of crossings. Medical reports confirm that the cessation of military operations has not ended the suffering; rather, it has revealed chronic wounds and lives threatened by slow death due to the absence of treatment prospects, amid the local health system's inability to deal with critical cases requiring advanced surgical intervention.
The mother of three injured girls recounts the human burden the family endures, as everyone needs urgent bone grafting surgeries. With the father also injured and having lost his joint, the living and medical burdens increase, making the demand for a treatment opportunity abroad the only way to regain the ability to walk and be self-reliant, especially for the girls who are still young.
In another corner of suffering, the story of 'Dialah,' a child with Down syndrome, stands out. She suffers from heart deformities and severe pulmonary hypertension. She was scheduled for open-heart surgery before the war broke out, but the circumstances of forced displacement and missed medical appointments thwarted this opportunity, leaving the child to face the terror of shelling and a weakened heart muscle simultaneously.
The areas to which the residents have been displaced lack any educational institutions or rehabilitation centers that accommodate people with special needs, which exacerbates the deterioration of their psychological and physical condition. Relatives of patients indicate that children with intellectual or motor disabilities have become the most marginalized group, lacking the most basic specialized health and nutritional care appropriate for their conditions.
Children with cerebral palsy also suffer from severe deterioration due to the forced cessation of neurological and physical therapy treatments. The families of some injured individuals explained that prolonged stays in displacement tents led to the appearance of skin ulcers and serious complications, amidst calls for the establishment of specialized camps that provide healthy food, clean water, and medical wheelchairs for these vulnerable groups.
Medical sources in the Gaza Ministry of Health reported that the catastrophe reached its peak with the death of 1268 patients who were on waiting lists since the Israeli army took control of the Rafah crossing. These victims had official medical referrals, but the closure of the only crossing prevented them from reaching external hospitals, turning medical referrals into mere worthless papers in the face of death.
Official statistics indicate that there are approximately 20,000 cases awaiting travel, including 440 cases classified as 'life-saving' that cannot be postponed. The list also includes 4,500 children and 6,000 injured individuals, in addition to 4,000 cancer patients who face a death sentence due to the depletion of chemotherapy drugs and the cessation of radiotherapy centers within the Gaza Strip.
1268 patients have died while awaiting their turn to travel for treatment since the closure of the Rafah crossing.
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The Cry of 20,000 Wounded in Gaza: Death Lurks for Patients Awaiting Treatment Abroad