US lawmakers press Israel to let cancer patients out of Gaza for treatment

What Happened

Over 60 US lawmakers, including Senators Bernie Sanders and Chris Van Hollen and Representatives Madeleine Dean and Greg Casar, sent a letter on Thursday to Secretary of State Marco Rubio urging the Trump administration to press Israel to lift restrictions on Palestinian cancer patients in Gaza. The letter calls for the immediate medical evacuation of child cancer patients and their caretakers to hospitals in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, where Augusta Victoria Hospital and the Patriarchs and Heads of Churches in Jerusalem have offered to cover all expenses. It demands Israeli guarantees that patients will be allowed to return to Gaza and proposes a medical corridor. The lawmakers cite a decimated health system: the World Health Organization reports 94% of Gaza’s hospitals were destroyed or damaged, including the Turkish-Palestinian Friendship Hospital—Gaza’s sole cancer facility—demolished in March 2025. The UN estimates 11,000 cancer patients remain in Gaza, and at least 1,200 people have died awaiting evacuation approvals, including a six-year-old boy with leukemia. The letter states that limited medical evacuations have fallen short, and the WHO suspended evacuations to Egypt after Israeli forces shot a medical contractor.

Key Actors

Why It Matters

The congressional intervention elevates the humanitarian crisis in Gaza directly to the US executive branch, potentially influencing policy on medical access and reconstruction. It underscores the collapse of Gaza’s cancer care capacity and the political obstacles to evacuation, while testing the Trump administration’s willingness to pressure Israel on humanitarian grounds amid ongoing hostilities and ceasefire fragility. The letter’s timing could affect US-Israel relations and the broader discourse on accountability for systematic healthcare destruction.

Watch For

Monitor responses from Secretary of State Rubio and the Israeli government on the proposed medical corridor and evacuation guarantees. Watch for any resumption of WHO medical evacuations, reopening of the Rafah crossing for patients, or concrete US diplomatic moves. Track whether congressional supporters initiate further pressure, such as hearings or legislation, and whether the Augusta Victoria Hospital begins receiving patients if evacuations are approved.