{"id":302587,"date":"2025-09-08T12:00:43","date_gmt":"2025-09-08T11:00:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=302587"},"modified":"2025-09-06T00:21:12","modified_gmt":"2025-09-05T23:21:12","slug":"gazas-looming-cancer-epidemic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2025\/09\/gazas-looming-cancer-epidemic\/","title":{"rendered":"Gaza\u2019s Looming Cancer Epidemic"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Jabalia, in their demolished house, Sep 2025
by Rafah Kid licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 \/ Flickr<\/p><\/div>\n

The Many Ways Bombs Can Kill<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

4 Sep 2025\u00a0<\/em>–\u00a0A week after the Hamas attacks on October 7, 2023, a large explosion incinerated a parking lot near the busy Al-Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza City, killing more than 470 people. It was a horrifying, chaotic scene. Burnt clothing was strewn about, scorched vehicles piled atop one another, and charred buildings surrounded the impact zone. Israel claimed the blast was caused by an errant rocket fired by Palestinian extremists, but an investigation by Forensic Architecture later indicated<\/a> that the missile was most likely launched from Israel, not from inside Gaza.<\/p>\n

In those first days of the onslaught, it wasn\u2019t yet clear that wiping out Gaza\u2019s entire healthcare system could conceivably be part of the Israeli plan. After all, it\u2019s well known that purposely bombing or otherwise destroying hospitals violates the Geneva Conventions and is a war crime, so there was still some hope that the explosion at Al-Ahli was accidental. And that, of course, would be the narrative that Israeli authorities would continue to push over the nearly two years of death and misery that followed.<\/p>\n

A month into Israel\u2019s Gaza offensive, however, soldiers of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) would raid the Indonesian Hospital in northern Gaza, dismantling its dialysis center with no explanation as to why such life-saving medical equipment would be targeted. (Not even Israel was contending that Hamas was having kidney problems.) Then, in December 2023, Al-Awda Hospital<\/a>, also in northern Gaza, was hit, while at least one doctor was shot<\/a> by Israeli snipers stationed outside it. As unnerving as such news stories were, the most gruesome footage released at the time came from Al-Nasr children\u2019s hospital, where infants were found dead<\/a> and decomposing in an empty ICU ward. Evacuation orders<\/a> had been given and the medical staff had fled, unable to take the babies with them.<\/p>\n

For those monitoring such events, a deadly pattern was beginning to emerge, and Israel\u2019s excuses for its malevolent behavior were already losing credibility.<\/p>\n

Shortly after Israel issued warnings to evacuate<\/a> the Al-Quds Hospital in Gaza City in mid-January 2024, its troops launched rockets at the building, destroying what remained of its functioning medical equipment. Following that attack, ever more clinics were also targeted by Israeli forces. A Jordan Field Hospital was shelled<\/a> that January and again this past August. An air strike hit Yafa hospital<\/a> early in December 2023. The Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis in southern Gaza was also damaged<\/a> last May and again this August, when the hospital and an ambulance were struck, killing<\/a> 20, including five journalists.<\/p>\n

While human-rights groups like the International Criminal Court, the United Nations, and the Red Cross have condemned<\/a> Israel for such attacks, its forces have continued to decimate medical facilities and aid sites. At the same time, Israeli authorities claimed that they were only targeting Hamas command centers and weapons storage facilities.<\/p>\n

The Death of Gaza\u2019s Only Cancer Center<\/strong><\/p>\n

In early 2024, the Turkish-Palestinian Friendship Hospital, first hit in October 2023 and shuttered<\/a> in November of that year, was in the early stages of being demolished by IDF battalions. A video released in February by Middle East Eye showed footage of an elated Israeli soldier sharing<\/a> a TikTok video of himself driving a bulldozer into that hospital, chuckling as his digger crushed a cinderblock wall. \u201cThe hospital accidentally broke,\u201d he said. Evidence of Israel\u2019s crimes was by then accumulating, much of it provided by the IDF itself.<\/p>\n

When that Turkish-Palestinian Friendship Hospital opened in 2018, it quickly became Gaza\u2019s leading and most well-equipped cancer treatment facility. As the Covid-19 pandemic reached Gaza in 2020, all oncology operations were transferred to that hospital to free up space at other clinics, making it the only cancer center to serve Gaza\u2019s population of more than two million.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis hospital will help transform the health sector,\u201d Palestinian Health Minister Jawad Awwad said<\/a> shortly before its opening. \u201c[It] will help people who are going through extreme difficulties.\u201d<\/p>\n

Little did he know that those already facing severe difficulties due to their cancer diagnoses would all too soon face full-blown catastrophe. In March 2025, what remained of the hospital would be razed<\/a>, erasing all traces of Gaza\u2019s once-promising cancer treatment.<\/p>\n

Before October 7, 2023, the most common cancers afflicting Palestinians in Gaza were breast and colon cancer. Survival rates were, however, much lower<\/a> there than in Israel, thanks to more limited medical resources and restrictions imposed by that country. From 2016 to 2019, while cases in Gaza were on the rise, there was at least hope that the hospital, funded by Turkey, would offer much-needed cancer screenings that had previously been unavailable.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe repercussions of the current conflict on cancer care in Gaza will likely be felt for years to come,\u201d according to<\/a> a November 2023 editorial in the medical journal Cureus<\/em>. \u201cThe immediate challenges of drugs, damaged infrastructure, and reduced access to specialized treatment have long-term consequences on the overall health outcomes of current patients.\u201d<\/p>\n

In other words, lack of medical care and worse cancer rates will not only continue to disproportionately affect Gazans compared to Israelis, but conditions will undoubtedly deteriorate significantly more. And such predictions don\u2019t even take into account the fact that war itself causes cancer, painting an even bleaker picture of the medical future for Palestinians in Gaza.\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

The Case of Fallujah<\/strong><\/p>\n

When the Second Battle of Fallujah, part of America\u2019s nightmarish war in Iraq, ended in December 2004, the embattled city was a toxic warzone, contaminated with munitions, depleted uranium (DU), and poisoned dust from collapsed buildings. Not surprisingly, in the years that followed, cancer rates increased almost exponentially there. Initially, doctors began to notice that more cancers were being diagnosed. Scientific research would soon back up their observations, revealing a startling trend.<\/p>\n

In the decade after the fighting had mostly ended, leukemia rates among the local population skyrocketed by a dizzying 2,200%<\/a>. It was the most significant increase ever recorded after a war, exceeding even Hiroshima\u2019s 660%<\/a> rise over a more extended period of time. One study<\/a> later tallied a fourfold increase in all cancers and, for childhood cancers, a twelvefold increase.<\/p>\n

The most likely source of many of those cancers was the mixture of DU, building materials, and other leftover munitions. Researchers soon observed that residing inside or near contaminated sites in Fallujah was likely the catalyst for the boom in cancer rates.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur research in Fallujah indicated that the majority of families returned to their bombarded homes and lived there, or otherwise rebuilt on top of the contaminated rubble of their old homes,\u201d explained<\/a> Dr. Mozghan Savabieasfahani, an environmental toxicologist who studied the health impacts of war in Fallujah. \u201cWhen possible, they also used building materials that were salvaged from the bombarded sites. Such common practices will contribute to the public\u2019s continuous exposure to toxic metals years after the bombardment of their area has ended.\u201d<\/p>\n

While difficult to quantify, we do have some idea of the amount of munitions and DU that continues to plague that city. According to the International Atomic Energy Agency, the United States fired between 170 and 1,700<\/a> tons of tank-busting munitions in Iraq, including Fallujah, which might have amounted to as many as 300,000 rounds<\/a> of DU. While only mildly radioactive, persistent exposure to depleted uranium has a cumulative effect on the human body. The more you\u2019re exposed, the more the radioactive particles build up in your bones<\/a>, which, in turn, can cause cancers like leukemia<\/a>.<\/p>\n

With its population of 300,000<\/a>, Fallujah served as a military testing ground<\/a> for munitions much like those that Gaza endures today. In the short span<\/a> of one month, from March 19 to April 18, 2003, more than 29,199 bombs were dropped on Iraq, 19,040 of which were precision-guided, along with another 1,276 cluster bombs. The impacts were grave. More than 60<\/a> of Fallujah\u2019s 200 mosques were destroyed, and of the city\u2019s 50,000 buildings<\/a>, more than 10,000 were imploded and 39,000 damaged. Amid such destruction, there was a whole lot of toxic waste. As a March 2025 report<\/a> from Brown University\u2019s Costs of War Project noted, \u201cWe found that the environmental impact of warfighting and the presence of heavy metals are long-lasting and widespread in both human bodies and soil.\u201d<\/p>\n

Exposure to heavy metals is distinctly associated with cancer risk. \u201cProlonged exposure to specific heavy metals has been correlated with the onset of various cancers, including those affecting the skin, lungs, and kidneys,\u201d a 2023 report<\/a> in Scientific Studies<\/em> explains. \u201cThe gradual buildup of these metals within the body can lead to persistent toxic effects. Even minimal exposure levels can result in their gradual accumulation in tissues, disrupting normal cellular operations and heightening the likelihood of diseases, particularly cancer.\u201d<\/p>\n

And it wasn\u2019t just cancer that afflicted the population that stuck around or returned to Fallujah. Infants began to be born with alarming birth defects. A 2010 study<\/a> found a significant increase in heart ailments among babies there, with rates 13 times higher and nervous system defects 33 times higher than in European births.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have all kinds of defects now, ranging from congenital heart disease to severe physical abnormalities, both in numbers you cannot imagine,\u201d Dr Samira Alani, a pediatric specialist at Fallujah General Hospital, who co-authored the birth-defect study, told<\/a> Al Jazeera in 2013. \u201cWe have so many cases of babies with multiple system defects\u2026 Multiple abnormalities in one baby. For example, we just had one baby with central nervous system problems, skeletal defects, and heart abnormalities. This is common in Fallujah today.\u201d<\/p>\n

While comprehensive health assessments in Iraq are scant, evidence continues to suggest that high cancer rates persist in places like Fallujah. \u201cFallujah today, among other bombarded cities in Iraq, reports a high rate of cancers,\u201d researchers from the Costs of War Project study report<\/a>. \u201cThese high rates of cancer and birth defects may be attributed to exposure to the remnants of war, as are manifold other similar spikes in, for example, early onset cancers and respiratory diseases.\u201d<\/p>\n

As devastating as the war in Iraq was \u2014 and as contaminated as Fallujah remains \u2014 it\u2019s nearly impossible to envision what the future holds for those left in Gaza, where the situation is so much worse. If Fallujah teaches us anything, it\u2019s that Israel\u2019s destruction will cause cancer rates to rise significantly, impacting generations to come.<\/p>\n

Manufacturing Cancer<\/strong><\/p>\n

The aerial photographs<\/a> and satellite footage are grisly. Israel\u2019s U.S.-backed military machine has dropped so many bombs that entire neighborhoods have been reduced to rubble. Gaza, by every measure, is a land of immense suffering. As Palestinian children hang on the brink of starvation, it feels strange to discuss the health effects they might face in the decades ahead, should they be fortunate enough to survive.<\/p>\n

While data often conceals the truth, in Gaza, numbers reveal a dire reality. As of this year, nearly 70%<\/a> of all roads had been destroyed, 90%<\/a> of all homes damaged or completely gone, 85% of farmland affected, and 84%<\/a> of healthcare facilities obliterated. To date, Israel\u2019s relentless death machine has created at least 50 million tons<\/a> of rubble, human remains, and hazardous materials \u2014 all the noxious ingredients necessary for a future cancer epidemic.<\/p>\n

From October 2023 to April 2024, well over 70,000 tons of explosives<\/a> were dropped on Gaza,<\/strong> which, according to the Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor, was equivalent to two nuclear bombs. While the extent and exact types of weaponry used there are not fully known, the European Parliament has accused Israel<\/a> of deploying depleted uranium, which, if true, will only add to the future cancer ills of Gazans. Most bombs contain heavy metals<\/a> like lead, antimony, bismuth, cobalt, and tungsten, which end up polluting the soil and groundwater, while impacting agriculture and access to clean water for years to come.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe toxicological effects of metals and energetic materials on microorganisms, plants, and animals vary widely and can be significantly different depending on whether the exposure is acute (short term) or chronic (long term),\u201d reads a 2021 report<\/a> commissioned by the Guide to Explosive Ordnance Pollution of the Environment. \u201cIn some cases, the toxic effects may not be immediately apparent, but instead may be linked to an increased risk of cancer, or increased risk of mutation during pregnancy, which may not become evident for many years.\u201d<\/p>\n

Given such information, we can only begin to predict how toxic the destruction may prove to be. The homes that once stood in the Gaza Strip were mainly made of concrete and steel. Particles of dust released from such crumbled buildings can themselves cause<\/a> lung, colon, and stomach cancers.<\/p>\n

As current cancer patients die slow deaths with no access to the care they need, future patients, who will acquire cancer thanks to Israel\u2019s genocidal mania, will no doubt meet the same fate unless there is significant intervention.<\/p>\n

\u201c[A]pproximately 2,700 [Gazans] in advanced stages of the disease await treatment with no hope or treatment options within the Gaza Strip under an ongoing closure of Gaza\u2019s crossings, and the disruption of emergency medical evacuation mechanisms,\u201d states a May 2025 report<\/a> by the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights. \u201c[We hold] Israel fully responsible for the deaths of hundreds of cancer patients and for deliberately obliterating any opportunities of treatment for thousands more by destroying their treatment centers and depriving them of travel. Such acts fall under the crime of genocide ongoing in the Gaza Strip.\u201d<\/p>\n

Israel\u2019s methodical destruction in Gaza has taken on many forms,<\/strong> from bombing civilian enclaves and hospitals to withholding food, water, and medical care from those most in need. In due time, Israel will undoubtedly use the cancers it will have created as a means to an end, fully aware that Palestinians there have no way of preparing for the health crises that are coming.<\/p>\n

Cancer, in short, will be but another weapon added to Israel\u2019s ever-increasing arsenal.<\/p>\n

_____________________________________________________<\/p>\n

Joshua Frank is<\/em> co-editor of <\/i>CounterPunch and co-host of\u00a0<\/i>CounterPunch Radio<\/a>. He is the author of\u00a0<\/i>Atomic Days: The Untold Story of the Most Toxic Place in America<\/a>, and the forthcoming <\/i>Bad Energy: The Deep Sea Miners, Rogue Lithium Extractors, and Wind Industrialists Who are Selling Off Our Future, both with Haymarket Books.\u00a0<\/i><\/p>\n

Copyright 2025 Joshua Frank<\/em><\/p>\n

Go to Original – tomdispatch.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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