In Gaza, children with cancer are in crisis. Cancer treatments have stopped. Lifesaving care is slipping away. Hospitals lie in ruins, medicine shelves are empty, and vital equipment remains trapped at closed borders. Families are powerless, forced to watch their children suffer without even the most basic medical support. Every moment of delay is not just lost time — it is a child in agony, a parent consumed with fear, and a family clinging desperately to fading hope.

Dangerous Interruptions for Children Facing Cancer 

The crisis in Gaza has catastrophically disrupted cancer care for children. The destruction of the hospitals, combined with severe shortages of essential medicines, has left young patients without chemotherapy, imaging, or even the most basic supportive care. What should be treatable illnesses are now turning into tragedies.

Hospital Destruction

Pediatric cancer facilities have been devastated, leaving children with nowhere to turn for lifesaving treatment. Wards once filled with young patients now lie in ruins, their equipment destroyed or abandoned. Chemotherapy and radiation have stopped entirely, forcing families to watch as once-manageable illnesses become fatal. The loss of these hospitals has erased vital infrastructure and stripped children of their last chance at survival.

• Turkish-Palestinian Friendship Hospital: once Gaza’s only specialized cancer hospital, it was reduced to rubble in March 2025. For children with cancer, this hospital was their last lifeline — yet it had already gone dark months earlier, in November 2023, when airstrikes shattered its wards and fuel shortages silenced its machines.
• Dr. Musa and Suhaila Nasir Pediatric Cancer Department: A rocket strike destroyed Gaza’s only unit dedicated to treating children with cancer in November 2023. Children lost their only sanctuary for care, and parents faced nothing but despair. The Palestine Children’s Relief Fund (PCRF) is struggling to rebuild what was lost, so that children can once again have a chance at survival.

Medicine Shortages

The crisis is not only about destroyed hospitals. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), nearly half of all essential medicines and more than 60% of medical equipment are entirely out of stock. Critical supplies — including imaging devices, anesthesia machines, and surgical sets — are simply unavailable. A Reuters report from August 2025 described aid convoys turned back or stalled at borders for weeks, with only a fraction ever reaching hospitals. Each delay keeps care out of reach when every single day matters.

Evacuation Delays

Even when treatment is theoretically possible, capacity is far too limited. Aid agencies report that medical evacuations for children — especially those needing cancer therapy — happen at less than one per day, while thousands wait. At this pace, the system denies countless children the timely interventions that could save or extend their lives. For many families, the window of hope is closing before their eyes.

Why This Is a “Silent” Crisis

Children with cancer don’t always look sick on the outside. They need ultrasounds, biopsies, chemotherapy, or radiotherapy — services that rely on stable hospitals, trained teams, power, sterile supplies, and functioning referral routes. When those pieces break down, kids pay the price in lost time. 

Malnutrition makes everything more complicated. In July 2025 alone, the WHO reported a sharp spike in malnutrition-related deaths in Gaza — including among young children — illustrating how nutrition and healthcare access are tightly linked.

Together, these crises create a silent emergency: Children who might survive with proper care now struggle without the hospitals, medicines, and equipment they desperately need.

Why Timing Matters in Cancer 

When it comes to childhood cancer, timing is everything. A cancer diagnosis can change rapidly in children, leaving only narrow windows for treatment that determine whether care succeeds or fails.

For a child with leukemia, for example, chemotherapy must follow a carefully timed schedule. Doctors design each cycle to weaken the disease before it grows stronger. When cycles are delayed — even by a few weeks — the cancer can progress, making it harder to treat and increasing the chances of relapse. Research consistently shows that delays in treatment lead to higher mortality rates in pediatric cancer.

Nutrition also plays a vital role. Pediatric studies highlight that undernourished children tolerate cancer treatment less effectively — they may face higher infection risks, more complications, and poorer outcomes overall. In conflict zones, where food security is fragile and hospital access is unpredictable, malnutrition compounds the risks of cancer, making timely treatment even more critical.

Ultimately, cancer care cannot wait. A missed appointment, a delayed surgery, or a postponed treatment cycle isn’t just an inconvenience — it can determine whether a child recovers or declines. That is why reliable hospital access, uninterrupted medications, and adequate nutrition are not luxuries, but essential lifelines.

How You Can Help

The world often measures crises in numbers — but for families in Gaza, this is personal. Each statistic represents a child whose cancer therapy has stopped midstream or a child waiting for a life-saving procedure that may never come. It’s not about politics, but about children losing their chance to live.

The silent crisis of cancer care in Gaza reminds us that medical aid is not optional — it is urgent. Supporting organizations that provide direct care and advocate for unimpeded access can mean the difference between loss and survival.

Support organizations like Palestine Children’s Relief Fund (PCRF) are working on the ground to provide urgent medical aid. With over 30 years of experience, PCRF delivers lifesaving care to the most vulnerable, including children with cancer, war injuries, and critical surgical needs. Your support can help sustain and expand this effort, even as the world hesitates.

Every child deserves a fair shot at healing: a functioning hospital, a trained team, a parent’s hand to hold, and a clear path to treatment. Restoring — and protecting — those basics is how we turn a silent crisis into a story of survival.