Gaza Herald—Sixty-two U.S. lawmakers have urged the Trump administration to pressure Israel to restore Palestinian cancer patients’ access to treatment and reopen the medical corridor linking Gaza with hospitals in East Jerusalem and the West Bank.
In a letter to U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the lawmakers said more than 18,500 Palestinians, including about 11,000 cancer patients, need urgent specialized care not available in Gaza, where widespread damage to hospitals has severely disrupted diagnostic and oncology services.
They reported that Israel has permitted only a limited number of medical evacuations abroad while continuing to restrict Palestinian patients from accessing hospitals in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, adding that the restrictions have left thousands of cancer patients in Gaza with little or no access to treatment, effectively turning the illness into a death sentence for many.
The letter stated that more than 1,200 patients have died while waiting for medical evacuation approval, and urged the U.S. administration to work with Qatar, Egypt, and Turkey to facilitate patient transfers, ensure access to treatment, and permanently reopen the medical corridor with guarantees for patients and their companions to return to Gaza after treatment.
The lawmakers also urged support for efforts to rebuild hospitals and healthcare infrastructure in the Gaza Strip and called for the protection of medical facilities and staff in line with international humanitarian law.
The letter was signed by a group of prominent lawmakers, including Senators Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, Chris Van Hollen and Ed Markey, along with Representatives Ro Khanna, Pramila Jayapal, Ilhan Omar, Greg Casar, Delia Ramirez, Jan Schakowsky and Sean Casten.
