End barriers to breast cancer care for patients in Gaza | End barriers to breast cancer care for patients in Gaza

End barriers to breast cancer care for patients in Gaza

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As you will be aware, October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month in the UK and around the world. I am writing as a constituent to ask you to urge the UK government to help ensure Palestinian breast cancer patients can access the vital care they need.

Breast cancer is the most common cancer among Palestinian women, accounting for 34.3% of all cancer cases among women in Gaza and 32% in the West Bank. Swift access to treatment is crucial to saving lives. But Israel’s discriminatory policies are denying Palestinians access to urgent care.

Fifteen years of Israel’s illegal closure and blockade and repeated military assaults have devastated Gaza’s healthcare system. Many specialist services – such as radiotherapy – are completely unavailable. Patients must therefore be referred out of Gaza, but movement restrictions imposed by Israel substantially undermine access. The procedure to apply for permits from the Israeli authorities is characterised by frequent, arbitrary rejections and excessive delay.

In 2021, more than a third of all patient permit requests were either rejected, received no response, or were delayed at the time of the scheduled medical appointment. This uncertainty imposes another layer of suffering to the immense physical and psychological burdens of breast cancer patients.

Under international humanitarian law, Israel is obligated to ensure patients in Gaza have unimpeded access to the medical treatment they need. Instead of meeting its duties as an occupying power, Israel is instead imposing illegal collective punishment on them and two million people in Gaza.

The UK must act urgently to alleviate the unnecessary suffering of Palestinian patients and ensure that they have unimpeded access to quality health services. I therefore ask that you write urgently to UK Foreign Secretary James Cleverly to call on him to take the following actions:

• Use the UK's diplomatic clout to pressure Israel to immediately ensure that cancer and other patients in Gaza, and their companions, have free and unimpeded access to medical treatment elsewhere in the occupied Palestinian territory and abroad, in line with international humanitarian law;

• Monitor and publicly report on the Israeli authorities’ rate of approval, delay and denial of permits for patients, companions and health workers in and out of Gaza;

• Provide aid and technical assistance to support the sustainable development of Palestinian cancer services, including much-needed radiotherapy services in Gaza; and

• Work with international partners to develop a time-bound plan to end Israel’s illegal closure, blockade and collective punishment of Gaza.

I also urge you to seek other opportunities to raise these issues in parliament and beyond, including through questions, debates, and speaking out through social media.

I hope you will take swift action to address these issues and look forward to hearing from you soon.

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