The impediments faced by Palestinians in Gaza in obtaining access to health care continue to be a cause for serious concern. The Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip has caused a further deterioration in the humanitarian situation, health and sanitation problems, as well as extreme poverty and malnutrition. In recent months the already dire circumstances faced by patients in Gaza have been compounded by a strike of some health workers in Gaza, which has made a bad situation worse. Some 80 per cent of Gaza’s 1.5 million inhabitants rely on international assistance, but UN aid agencies and humanitarian organizations face additional restrictions and costs, which hinder their ability to provide assistance and services to the population. With only a few exceptions, the entire population of 1.5 million people are trapped in Gaza. Students are unable to attend university studies and jobs abroad and critically ill patients in need of medical care that is unavailable in local hospitals are often prevented from leaving Gaza. Since the blockade was imposed in 2007, dozens of patients have died due to lack of access to treatment.

Medical facilities in Gaza lack the specialized staff and equipment to treat a range of conditions, including cancer and cardiovascular illnesses, and patients suffering from these and other conditions need access to hospitals outside Gaza. Patients have traditionally relied on medical facilities in other parts of the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT) - that is the West Bank (including East Jerusalem), which can only be reached through Israel - in Egypt, Jordan and Israel, and in some cases in other countries. However, patients’ access to medical care is now severely restricted by the ongoing closure of Gaza’s only gates to the outside world: the Erez crossing with Israel in the north, where Israel imposes the closure directly, and the Rafah border crossing with Egypt in the south, where the Egyptian government has so far complied with Israel’s order that it be closed. Only a limited number of serious medical or humanitarian cases are granted special permits to leave Gaza through the Gaza-Israel border and through the Gaza-Egypt crossing. However, many more critically ill patients are unable to secure permits to leave Gaza for medical treatment which is not available in Gaza.

Amnesty International is calling on the Israeli authorities, the Egyptian government, the Palestinian Authority and the Hamas de-facto administration in Gaza to take urgent steps to ensure that Palestinians with serious health needs are able to access the health care they need in a timely and secure way.

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