Gaza children yet to reach KHCC for treatment

AMMAN — The King Hussein Cancer Centre (KHCC) in Amman has not yet received any children with cancer from Gaza, director general of KHCC, Asem Mansour, told The Jordan Times on Sunday. 

Jordan was expected to receive seven children with cancer from Gaza to resume their treatment at the KHCC at the end of last week, according to Mansour. 

He stated last Wednesday that these children have entered Egypt through the Rafah border crossing, each accompanied by an adult caretaker. 

However, reasons behind the delay of their arrival to Jordan have not been provided. 

The KHCC had been coordinating with the Palestinian Cancer Relief Fund and other international organisations for over two weeks to evacuate 31 children with cancer from Gaza to resume their treatment in Amman. 

The seven children expected to arrive to Jordan last week, include two leukemia patients, two patients with lymphoma cancer and the other three have solid tumours. 

The World Health Organisation said in a statement issued on Friday that “some 12 children with cancer or other blood disorders have been evacuated, with their companions, from the Gaza Strip in the occupied Palestinian territory to Egypt and Jordan so they may continue their treatment safely”. 

There are over 9,000 cancer patients in Gaza, and Leukemia is the most common type of cancer diagnosed among children in the Strip, according to Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza.

On November 1, Palestinian health authorities said that the Turkish-Palestinian Friendship Hospital, the only cancer hospital in Gaza, has gone out of service after it ran out of fuel due to Israel’s ongoing blockade.