Gaza patients battle cancer and Israeli siege

Health care professionals in Gaza have documented a disturbing rise in incidences of cancer in the impoverished strip of land.

Dr. Mohammed Abu Shaban is a Palestinian oncologist who works at different hospitals in Gaza.

Over the last two years, he said, citing statistics from the Gaza ministry of health, the number of cancer diagnoses reached some 14,600.

“Every month, we see at least 120 new cancer patients in Gaza,” the doctor told The Electronic Intifada.

Abu Shaban said a direct relationship between the increase in the number of patients with cancer and the three wars launched on Gaza over the last eight years.

Doctors in Gaza and foreign health professionals have long suspected that Israel has used new forms of weaponry over Gaza, including Dense Inert Metal Explosives (DIME) or ammunition laced with radioactive material.

“Israeli forces have used illegal weapons with lethal radioactive materials that transfer to the soil,” Abu Shaban said.

“People who live next to areas that have been shelled risk being exposed to these materials. That enhances the risk of cancer for these people.”

Leukemia is the most pervasive cancer in Gaza, according to the doctor. Abu Shaban estimates that some 25 percent of cancer-related deaths among children are due to the condition.