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Israeli authorities are calling for the return of young Gazan patients in remission from cancer being treated in hospitals in East Jerusalem. franceinfo went to the pediatric oncology department at Augusta Victoria Hospital in Jerusalem.
Will children from Gaza suffering from cancer, treated in hospitals in annexed East Jerusalem, be sent back to a territory at war? This is the order of the Israeli authorities which would be imposed on young patients in remission. They were due to leave on the morning of Wednesday March 27, but the Supreme Court, the highest authority in the country, was contacted by associations and the judges now have 30 days to decide the fate of the patients.
At the pediatric oncology department of Augusta Victoria Hospital, Amira, 12, suffering from a brain tumor, arrived on September 18 by ambulance from Gaza. Half of his body no longer moved. After long weeks of radiotherapy and rehabilitation, she is walking again.
“There, I won’t even find him a Doliprane to soothe his pain”
According to the order of the Israeli authorities, she is therefore a candidate for a return to the enclave: “I don’t want to go back to Gaza. I hope that my father and my sister, who are still there, can leave the enclave. And we will go elsewhere… They are in danger there. Our house was bombed. It has been reduced to dust like the rest of our territory. I am still taking treatment to be able to walk, and for my hand to function properly. I beg you: stop this war!” The little girl bursts into tears.
“Gaza is my whole life, but I still need care here. I can’t go and live in a tent”
Amira, 12 years old, suffering from a brain tumorat franceinfo
Her mother, Imane, tries to comfort her: “My grief and pain are immense. Sometimes Amira tells me that she wants to stay here, and other times that she misses her father and sister so much that she is ready to return to Gaza and die alongside them. I am helpless. I ask the doctors here for help. I am devastated. I have to stay strong for my daughter, but I have no strength left. Go back to Gaza? There, I won’t even find her a Doliprane to soothe her pain. And at the same time, I have my other daughter calling me, and saying, ‘I want my mom.'”
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Fifty Gazan patients are being treated at Augusta Victoria Hospital. For several days, the entire medical community has been fighting to keep them. Doctor Fadi Al-Atrache is the director of the establishment: “I can’t send them back to Gaza. That would be their death warrant. It’s a war zone. Even normal, healthy people can’t live there… So imagine for the patients with cancer…”
According to Doctor Al-Atrache, the situation in Gaza is catastrophic. There are no longer suitable healthcare structures and 10,000 cancer patients survive in deplorable health conditions.