DaysofPal – Two buses carrying Palestinian patients from Gaza arrived at the Kerem Abu Salem crossing on Monday after Israeli authorities forcibly removed them from hospitals in Jerusalem at dawn.
Among those expelled were cancer patients, children, and individuals in critical condition who had been evacuated before the war began. They were returned under military escort to a devastated and unsafe Gaza, without any medical guarantees for their continued treatment or survival.
Palestinian sources voiced deep concern over the safety of the patients and the conditions of their transfer. They urged human rights organizations, the International Committee of the Red Cross, and relevant Palestinian government bodies to intervene immediately to protect the patients, children, and their companions from imminent risks.
At least 89 Palestinian patients from Gaza and their companions face the possibility of being forcibly deported, according to families and medical personnel. Some may be compelled to return to the shattered enclave where, according to the World Health Organization, 94% of hospitals have been damaged or destroyed.
Many of these patients were originally evacuated prior to the onset of Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza two years ago. While some had agreed to return voluntarily, others are feared to be sent back against their will.
Gaza’s health system is on the brink of total collapse. More than 36 hospitals are fully or partially out of service. Thousands of wounded and chronically ill people now receive treatment in tents or directly on concrete floors, without electricity, intensive-care beds, sterilization tools, or essential medicines. Doctors warn that returning patients under these circumstances amounts to a “death sentence.”
More than 10,000 patients inside Gaza, including cancer patients, kidney-failure sufferers, children with congenital heart disease, and people with severe injuries, are waiting for medical referrals abroad. With both the Rafah and Erez crossings closed, they remain trapped. Many have already died waiting, and others face the same fate as Israel continues to block medical evacuations.
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