By Núria Garrido and Guillermo Azábal
Jerusalem (EFE).- Dozens of Gazan patients receiving critical medical treatment in East Jerusalem hospitals were informed this week that they must return to the Gaza Strip, a move that patients and relatives say puts their lives at risk amid the collapse of the enclave’s health system after more than two years of war.
The order affects who: chronically ill Gazans; what: forced returns; when: Monday; where: hospitals in East Jerusalem; and why: administrative directives amid the ongoing conflict.
On Oct. 5, 2023, two days before Hamas’ attacks, 54-year-old Nazif Jader left Gaza to receive treatment for kidney failure at Al Maqasid Hospital in East Jerusalem.
The Israeli offensive prevented his return, and two years later, as he awaited a kidney transplant, hospital administrators notified him that he was expected to go back to Gaza along with 76 other patients from Al Maqasid and Augusta Victoria Hospital.
“I miss my children, my grandchildren, my family, but returning to Gaza now is condemning myself to death because there is no treatment there,” Jader told EFE from his hospital bed.
Jader undergoes dialysis three times a week and has managed to temporarily halt his removal from the hospital due to his condition. But he says he has no clarity on what will happen next or how long he will be allowed to remain in Jerusalem.
His two sons, still trapped in Gaza, cannot leave to accompany him for the transplant.
“One of my sons is my donor, but we need to evacuate them from Gaza and have the surgery in another country,” he said.
In the same hospital room, Nesrine Atiya Mohamed, who arrived before Oct. 7 for an oncology checkup, fears being pushed out as well. Diagnosed with aggressive cancer in 2008 during an Israeli offensive, she says doctors linked the disease to white phosphorus exposure.
“My cancer is very serious and can return easily. I need regular scans, including a CT scan, something Gaza didn’t have even before the war. Imagine now, with the tragic situation we are living in,” she said tearfully.
Another patient is Yamen, a 16-year-old with a rare blood disorder that causes severe bleeding. He and his mother have spent more than two years in the hospital.
“Last Tuesday, hospital administrators told us we had to leave and return to Gaza. I refused, but they insisted it was mandatory. I started giving interviews, and I think media pressure is the only reason we haven’t been forced out yet,” his mother told EFE.
She fears returning to Gaza, where her husband now lives in a tent after their home, located along the so-called “yellow line,” an area civilians cannot access, was destroyed.
“My husband and children are already facing war, cold, rain, hunger, no water, and no medicines. They are healthy, and they suffer. Imagine a child like Yamen living in that tent,” she said.
All the patients interviewed expressed the same hope: to be accepted by a third country for treatment before the hospital forces their return to Gaza.
“We just want to survive,” said Jader. “We need a country that can take us in so we can receive medical treatment before it is too late.” EFE
ngg-ga-na/seo
