Gaza (Palestinian Territories) (AFP)

Tahani al-Rifi saw in his two monthly radiotherapy sessions a beacon of hope in his fight against cancer.

But with the pandemic and the closure of the Gaza Strip, this Palestinian woman was left without care.

Diagnosed with thyroid cancer three years ago, the 34-year-old went to a hospital in the Palestinian city of Hebron in the occupied West Bank every month for iodine radiation therapy, a process that does not exist. not in Gaza.

Leaving the Gaza Strip, a Palestinian enclave controlled by Islamist Hamas, under Israeli blockade for more than 10 years and separated from the West Bank by Israeli territory, requires a permit issued by the Jewish state.

But with the coronavirus pandemic, all crossing points have been closed - except rare openings - to prevent the circulation of the virus.

Result: Tahani's last radiotherapy session dates back to August.

For six months now, Tahani has felt very weak.

"My blood tests show that my condition has deteriorated", tells the young woman with the flowered scarf and the pink sanitary mask: "I live under sedatives due to pain in the feet and neck".

On Monday, Egypt reopened the Rafah crossing point in the southern Gaza Strip, but only for four days and for some people having to travel on humanitarian grounds.

According to Palestinian officials in Gaza, around 100 patients are awaiting authorization to receive treatment outside the enclave.

- Risks -

According to the latest report from the Ministry of Health in Gaza, around 51,670 people have been infected with the virus, of which 523 have died, in the Palestinian enclave of two million inhabitants.

"Cancer patients are more fragile in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic," warns Imane Shanane, director of an aid program for these patients in the Gaza Strip.

According to her, around 7,000 Gazans have been diagnosed with cancer, mostly breast cancer.

"They should have even more of the right to medical care," says Ms. Shanane, who herself is a breast cancer survivor.

"The patient has two options: either he stays at home and he dies (of cancer), or he goes out to receive pain treatment in the hospital and takes the risk of being contaminated" by the virus, she explains. .

Rim Fathi, 18, has leukemia.

"I received several authorizations from Israel to leave Gaza and go for treatment in Jerusalem because I am a serious case," she told AFP.

"But I would rather suffer here than travel to Jerusalem and take the risk of catching the coronavirus and dying from it," she breathes.

"The reluctance to be hospitalized is not only due to the fear of being infected: it also reflects the concern of losing a large part of one's income, especially if it is necessary to place oneself in quarantine", note the researchers Europeans in a study by the British University of Bath published on Wednesday.

"Financial insecurity is worsened because patients seem to have to pay for their drugs themselves", according to this study, which estimates that the closure of crossings has deprived "thousands" of chronically ill Gazans of appropriate care.

- Poverty -

"The fragile health care system, the Israeli blockade, the closure of crossings, the shortage of drugs and medical devices: it is those with cancer who pay the price in Gaza", warns Imane Shanane.

Tahani al-Rifi hopes to be able to cross the Israeli Erez crossing point, north of Gaza, soon to be able to reach the West Bank via Israel.

“But I need 1,800 shekels (around 450 euros) to travel and stay in Hebron,” she explains.

"I should borrow this sum, if at all I receive an Israeli authorization."

Usually, the Palestinian Authority pays at least part of the cost of the trip.

But to ensure a faster exit as soon as she gets the go-ahead from Israel to cross Erez, Tahani's family plan to pay everything out of their own pockets.

"His state of health is no longer tolerable," blows his father Radwane, 70, with a thick white beard: "We will pay what it takes to prevent him from dying".

© 2021 AFP