Representative James McGovern, Senators Ed Markey and Chris Van Hollen, and Representatives Madeleine Dean and Maxine Dexter were among 57 lawmakers who sent a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio urging the administration to intervene to secure medical evacuations for cancer patients in Gaza.
The lawmakers called for the reestablishment of a medical corridor allowing patients to travel to hospitals in occupied East Jerusalem and the West Bank for treatment unavailable inside Gaza, and for guarantees that evacuated patients would be allowed to return.
They also urged diplomatic coordination with Cairo, Doha, and Ankara to facilitate evacuations, and called for the protection and eventual reconstruction of Gaza’s medical infrastructure.
"We write with concern regarding the perilous situation of cancer patients trapped in Gaza without access to appropriate medical treatment," the letter read.
The letter cited the case of a six-year-old boy, Ghazal, who was diagnosed with leukemia and died while waiting for his evacuation request to be approved, and said more than 18,500 Palestinians currently require urgent medical care unavailable in Gaza, including around 11,000 cancer patients.
"It is imperative that the United States and its regional partners urge the Israeli government to reestablish a medical pathway for cancer patients in Gaza to receive life-saving treatment in East Jerusalem and the West Bank," the letter read. "The near-complete collapse of Gaza's health systems included the destruction of its only specialized cancer treatment facility."
Democratic Senators Ed Markey and Chris Van Hollen have been among Congress's most outspoken critics of Israel's conduct during the war on Gaza. Both backed failed Senate resolutions aimed at blocking billions of dollars in US weapons sales to Israel, while Van Hollen has repeatedly accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government of obstructing humanitarian aid and led calls for US military assistance to be conditioned on compliance with international law. Markey has argued that the United States "must not be complicit" in what he described as the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza.
Genocide unabated
Israel's intransigence regarding medical evacuations from the Gaza Strip has killed over 1,200 Palestinians, while estimates show cancer-related deaths tripling since the start of the Israeli genocidal war on the strip in October 2023.
According to the lawmakers, urgent international action is needed to prevent further deaths among patients awaiting medical referrals and evacuation approvals.
Gaza’s healthcare system has been severely degraded by nearly three years of a relentless Israeli genocidal war, where it decimated hospitals and imprisoned and slaughtered medical personnel. This left medical staff forced to treat patients amid chronic shortages of medicines, equipment, and fuel. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 94 percent of hospitals in the enclave have been damaged or destroyed, leaving only a limited number of facilities partially operational and unable to provide specialized care, including cancer treatment.
Before Israel's war, Palestinian patients in Gaza routinely travelled for treatment outside the enclave through an Israeli permit system, with around 50 to 100 patients leaving daily for hospitals in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, according to the WHO. Facilities such as Augusta Victoria Hospital in East Jerusalem served as key referral centres for cancer and other specialised care that was unavailable inside Gaza. That system has been severely disrupted since October 2023, with access to external medical care sharply reduced.
Medical evacuations have continued but at a fraction of pre-war levels. WHO figures cited in recent reporting indicate that around 11,000 to 11,124 patients have been evacuated from Gaza since the start of the war, compared with pre-war daily flows. Humanitarian data cited by UN and WHO sources show that in some recent months, only dozens of patients have been able to leave in short periods, reflecting ongoing restrictions on crossings and coordination delays.
The WHO has also cited figures from Gaza’s Ministry of Health indicating that more than 1,000 patients died while waiting for medical evacuation approvals between mid-2024 and late 2025, underscoring the risks faced by critically ill patients unable to access treatment in time. Health officials and aid agencies say the figures are likely an undercount given gaps in reporting during the war.
Human rights organizations, from Doctors Without Borders (MSF) to Israel's Gisha, have called for the restoration of medical evacuation pathways, particularly to hospitals in East Jerusalem and the West Bank, arguing that such transfers are the most viable option for specialized treatment. In legal submissions and petitions before Israel’s Supreme Court, they have said that restricting access to external medical care raises serious questions under international law, given Israel’s effective control over Gaza’s external crossings.
Aid agencies and medical experts have also warned that delays in evacuation approvals have been fatal for patients requiring urgent oncology, cardiac, and paediatric care. Some experts have described medical evacuation as a critical lifeline for Gaza’s most vulnerable patients, while cautioning that any system of transfers must also guarantee the right of patients to return once treatment is completed.
Additionally, aid deliveries remain well below levels envisioned under the October ceasefire framework. Relief agencies have reported that Gaza was expected to receive between 500 and 600 aid trucks per day as per the truce's stipulations, but actual deliveries have averaged between 150 and 250 trucks daily, many of them carrying commercial goods rather than humanitarian assistance.
Over 95 percent of Gaza's population relies on humanitarian assistance for food, while shortages of medicine, safe water, and other essential supplies have deepened public health concerns, according to the United Nations (UN).
Humanitarian operations have also been affected by Israeli restrictions at key border crossings.
The Zikim crossing in northern Gaza has remained closed since late May, while access through Karm Abu Salem, the enclave's main cargo entry point, has faced operational constraints and congestion despite reopening after a temporary closure earlier this month.
The Israeli occupation forces have killed at least 983 Palestinians and injured over 3,122 others since the ceasefire went into effect on 11 October, with the overall Palestinian death toll since the outbreak of Israel's genocidal war on the strip reaching over 72,993, with 173,230 people reported injured.
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