Gaza Patient Dies Awaiting Medical Evacuation as Israel Maintains Block

In the coastal al-Mawasi area of southern Gaza, 15-year-old Rafa al-Qudra lost her last hope of saving her eyesight as Israel continues to block medical evacuations. Before the war, her eye condition could be managed with glasses and regular check-ups. But after months of displacement, malnutrition, and lack of specialist care, Rafa's eye pressure reached 50 mmHg in her right eye and 35 mmHg in her left eye — far above the normal range of 12–20 mmHg. Despite undergoing multiple laser treatments and surgeries, her pressure-lowering medication expired in July and no replacements were available. She is now completely blind.

Rafa's father, Rafat, 57, said she has had a referral letter for nearly a year but was never granted permission by Israel. "What is happening is a crime," he said.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), more than 18,500 patients in Gaza need medical evacuation for treatment unavailable in the territory. Since October 2023, Israel's military campaign has devastated Gaza's already fragile health system. A ceasefire agreement in October called for the resumption of medical evacuations, but Israel violated it almost immediately, announcing that the Rafah crossing — the main exit from Gaza — would remain closed. On February 28, Israel shut the Rafah crossing again, and all medical evacuations have been suspended since.

Gaza's Health Ministry says 6–10 patients die each day while waiting to go abroad for treatment, and about 1,200 people have died since May 2024, when Israel seized the Rafah crossing. Save the Children estimates that at the current rate, evacuating all those in need could take more than a year.

In a nearby tent, 5-year-old Fatima Saeed lay motionless on a mattress. Born with a brain condition, she could sit upright and was starting to speak before the war. As medical care vanished and living conditions deteriorated, she began having seizures. Her mother, Wafaa, said doctors assessed that Fatima could recover with rehabilitation, a proper living environment, clean water, and nutrition — none of which exist here. "What is happening to my daughter is a sentence of helplessness imposed on a child who did nothing wrong," she said.

Ismail al-Aqqad, 40, father of four, cannot move his limbs, cannot walk, and has lost the ability to speak. He suffers from a neurodegenerative disease and could previously move with crutches and talk in a limited way. When the war began, the medication he needed to slow the disease's progression stopped entering Gaza. He sat on a wooden chair, struggling to whisper: "I want to live. I don't want to die. Treat me." His wife Huda, 37, sobbed: "Save my husband before it is too late."