'I've Been Handed a Death Sentence, and My Crime Is Being a Cancer Patient From Gaza'
Israel’s genocide is destroying the health system in Gaza and the West Bank – leaving Palestinian cancer patients with few to no options for treatment.
Um Mahmoud* considers herself “one of the lucky few.” From Gaza, she was diagnosed with cancer in 2020 after years of experiencing often debilitating back pain. But she happened to be in Ramallah, receiving treatment, when Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza broke out in October 2023.
Nearly three years later, however, Um Mahmoud is facing a different kind of death sentence: While she’s escaped the immediate threat of bombs, gunfire, and healthcare collapse, she’s trapped in the occupied West Bank, where the Palestinian Authority can no longer pay for her treatment owing to Israel’s withholding of tax revenues. So she must wait, without treatment – while the cancer ravages her body.
Um Mahmoud’s story is both about one woman who desperately needs cancer treatment – and one about how Israel’s genocide extends far beyond the borders of Gaza.
A Difficult Journey Even Before Oct. 7
Before I get into Um Mahmoud’s story, it is important to describe the situation of cancer treatment in the West Bank and Gaza before 2023.