Gaza cancer patient dies after months-long evacuation delay, highlighting health system collapse

After feeling unwell in February 2026, Gaza resident Iktimal received a cervical cancer diagnosis more than a month later due to shortages in histopathology supplies. She had her uterus removed in April, but persistent kidney pain and inadequate post-operative care forced her family to seek evacuation for advanced treatment. Compiling medical records proved difficult amid damaged infrastructure, and an initial request to accompany her was reduced to a single escort, causing further delays.

Although Israel’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) claims approvals are swift, Iktimal was not cleared to travel until August, by which time her condition had become critical and she died in an Egyptian hospital. Gaza’s Ministry of Health estimates that evacuating one outlet backlog would take four years, effectively condemning thousands of patients to death, while the WHO notes severe deficits in equipment, fuel and medicines across the Strip’s hospitals.