CrossFireArarbia

‘We Are Dying’: Cancer Patients Plead For Treatment

CrossFireArabia
February 8, 2026

As World Cancer Day is marked on Wednesday, thousands of patients in Gaza face worsening illness, untreated pain and closed crossings – despite the limited opening of the vital route through Rafah this week.

“We are dying. Every day, between two and three patients die inside this hospital,” says Munther Abu Foul, a cancer patient lying on his bed in Gaza’s largest hospital. “I can’t get out of bed because of the pain. We want a solution – open the crossings.”

His words capture the reality facing thousands of cancer patients across the Strip, where access to specialist care has collapsed and evacuation for treatment abroad remains out of reach for many.

Local health organisations warn that around 11,000 patients are currently deprived of specialised or diagnostic cancer treatment inside Gaza.

Some 4,000 patients who received medical referrals to hospitals outside the Strip have been waiting for more than two years to travel.

UN News visited Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, documenting the dire conditions inside its oncology department. Patients crowd corridors and wards, waiting for consultations or treatments that are no longer available.

Essential medicines and equipment are in short supply, while many patients endure chronic pain that leaves them barely able to move.

Raed Abu Warda, a man in a green jacket, comforts his brother Hamid Abu Warda, a cancer patient, at Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City.

UN News

A man takes care of his brother, a cancer patient at Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City.

‘Every day, two or three patients die’

Mr. Abu Foul flips through his medical transfer papers, issued long ago for treatment outside Gaza. He has not been able to travel for more than two years.

“The health situation in the Gaza Strip is dilapidated,” he says. “There is no treatment or medicines, and we are dying. Every day, two to three patients die here inside this hospital. I can’t get out of bed because of the pain.”

He appeals directly for help. “We want a solution. Open the crossings properly so that God will release us from this suffering. Everyone will be held accountable.”

Nearby, Mohamed Hammou tends to his elderly mother, who is also battling cancer. He says families are forced to watch loved ones deteriorate without care.

We want a solution. Open the crossings properly so that God will release us from this suffering – Abu Foul

“This is how we stand in front of a patient who is dying, without treatment or any medical facilities that help them recover,” he says. “This does not please God and it does not satisfy people. We call on Islamic, Arab and international nations to look at the sick with mercy.”

A brother in pain

In another ward, Raed Abu Warda cares for his brother Hamid, whose cancer has worsened after long delays in treatment. What began as a small, benign illness has become a life-threatening condition.

“He has been suffering from cancer for two years,” Raed explains. “He waited all this time for the crossing to open so he could be treated outside. His pain has increased, as you can see.”

He gestures towards a wound that has opened beneath his brother’s chin. “The disease has created this wound, and his condition is getting worse every day. I stand watching my brother and mourning his condition because of the pain.”

Mundhir Abu Foul, a cancer patient in Gaza, sits on a hospital bed with his hands open, appearing to speak or gesture.

UN News

The health situation in the Gaza Strip is deteriorating for those suffering from life-threatening cancers, despite the limited opening of the Rafah crossing.

The number of patients seeking care at Gaza’s oncology departments continues to rise, even as hospitals face severe shortages of medicines, equipment and specialised staff. For newly diagnosed patients, the future is increasingly uncertain.

Evacuations far short of needs

With the limited reopening of the Rafah crossing, the World Health Organization (WHO) is supporting the evacuation of patients and their companions from Gaza, focusing on ensuring safe transport. Yet the scale of need far outstrips what is currently possible.

All we ask for is a way to live

More than 18,000 patients – including around 4,000 children – are waiting to be evacuated abroad for medical treatment, according to WHO.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported last week that Gaza’s Ministry of Health had recorded more than 1,200 patient deaths while people were waiting for medical evacuation. Around 4,000 cancer patients remain on critical waiting lists, trapped between closed crossings and a health system pushed beyond its limits.

For patients like Munther Abu Foul, time is running out. “We are dying,” he repeats. “All we ask for is a way to live.” – UN News

News

‘Yair Assaulted His Father’ – Ex-Security Chief

CrossFireArabia
February 7, 2026

Former head of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s security team, Ami Dror, revealed Netanyahu’s son, Yair, assaulted his father, necessitating intervention and forcing Netanyahu to leave for Miami, Florida.

These remarks were made in a podcast interview with the Israeli newspaper Maariv. Dror, now an entrepreneur and a leading figure in the protests against judicial reforms, who is also running in the Democratic primaries, discussed his years working alongside Netanyahu, revealing a series of what he described as “extraordinary” and “shocking” incidents within the prime minister’s family.

Dror stated that Yair Netanyahu’s departure for Miami “was not voluntary, but forced,” adding, “Yair assaulted his father. It wasn’t a karate punch, but a real assault that required intervention, and that’s what happened.”

Dror strongly criticized Benjamin Netanyahu’s personal conduct, saying, “Netanyahu has never been a moral person.”

He added, explaining: “Immoral means someone who eats at restaurants and doesn’t pay, passing the buck to others. This isn’t someone you’d want as a friend, and you can’t turn your back on them.”

He pointed out that these traits weren’t new, saying, “He’s always been like this. The position has exacerbated it for him, his family, and his inner circle.”

He went even further, describing Netanyahu as “a moral garbage dump,” and deeming his current term in office “disastrous” politically.

Sara Netanyahu is a kleptomaniac

Dror addressed Netanyahu’s wife, Sara, saying, “I’ve said it before and I stand by it: Sara Netanyahu is a kleptomaniac.” He added that he had seen gifts and towels disappear from hotels, emphasizing that “gifts given to the prime minister belong to the state, not the family.” He described her as “a wicked woman,” and said that Netanyahu tried to present her in the style of Hillary Clinton, “but she’s no Hillary Clinton.”

Regarding her influence within the Prime Minister’s office, Dror explained that Netanyahu initially created her power, but she later consolidated it, becoming the “real center of gravity” in recent years. He noted that she was the one who halted the plea bargain (a plea agreement), motivated by a desire to maintain her position of power and her conviction that her son, Yair, was capable of succeeding her.

In closing, Dror emphasized his stance on Netanyahu’s trial, stating, “Yes, I want him in prison, not out of revenge, but for the sake of justice.”

He added, “In a healthy country, a prime minister who accepts gifts and obstructs legal proceedings goes to prison.”

He also held Netanyahu responsible for the failure regarding the prisoners’ issue, asserting that dozens of prisoners could have been released alive were it not for political calculations and stalling tactics.

(Al-Mayadeen)

News

Netanyahu: ‘Epstein Didn’t Work For Israel’

CrossFireArabia
February 7, 2026

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu used the renewed focus on the Epstein files to attack his predecessor Ehud Barak, saying that Jeffrey Epstein “did not work for Israel.”

The Jerusalem Post daily reported that Barak’s ties to Epstein received extensive media attention after the two met several times in 2015 and 2016, years after Epstein’s first criminal conviction. Photos circulated at the time showed Barak entering Epstein’s Manhattan residence in New York.

In his first public comment on the Epstein documents, Netanyahu wrote on US social media company X that Epstein’s “unusual close relationship with Ehud Barak doesn’t suggest Epstein worked for Israel. It proves the opposite.”

“Stuck on his election loss from over two decades ago, Barak has for years obsessively attempted to undermine Israeli democracy by working with the anti-Zionist radical left in failed attempts to overthrow the elected Israeli government,” he added, referring to his own administration.

Netanyahu accused Barak of engaging “in activities publicly and behind the scenes to undermine the government of Israel, including fueling mass protest movements, fomenting unrest and feeding false media narratives,” according to Anadolu.

Barak has been a vocal critic of Netanyahu for years and has repeatedly called for the government’s removal.

In mid-2025, Barak joined about 3,000 Israeli medical and health professionals in signing petitions urging the government to secure the return of captives held by Palestinian factions in Gaza, even if it required halting the war that began on Oct. 8, 2023, and lasted two years.

On Friday, US Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche announced the release of more than 3 million additional files to the public as part of the Epstein investigations.

Epstein, an American financier accused of running a large-scale sex trafficking operation involving underage girls, some as young as 14, was found dead in a New York jail in 2019 while in custody.

The case files include the names of numerous high-profile figures, among them the former British prince Andrew, former US President Bill Clinton, current US President Donald Trump, former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak, singer Michael Jackson, and former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson.

Opinion

‘Things No One Knew About Saif al-Islam’

CrossFireArabia
February 5, 2026

By Raouf Qubaisi

I was deeply saddened by the death of Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, who was assassinated by ruthless and heartless individuals recently. I knew Saif al-Islam from many gatherings in London with friends, including his advisor and relative, Dr. Abdullah Othman, and the Libyan intellectual, Dr. Abdul-Muttalib al-Houni, whom I called at his residence in Rome to offer my condolences on Saif’s death.

Saif al-Islam was humble, friendly, and an astute opponent of his father’s policies. I was the one who arranged an interview for him with the Sunday Times, conducted by the esteemed Lebanese journalist and friend, Hala Jaber, which the prestigious British newspaper published on its front page.

In that interview, Saif said that “Libya needs a new administration.” This statement, as I recall, was the title of the interview, and it provoked the ire of his father, the Colonel, and the anger of his brothers and the elders of his tribe, many of whom were sycophants concerned only with their personal interests at the expense of their country. This was the state of Libya and its inevitable fate.

In the late 1990s, Saif al-Islam invited me to visit Libya. While at his home in Tripoli, I didn’t hesitate to ask him about the disappeared Imam Musa al-Sadr, and whether he was still in Libya, or had left for Italy as the Libyan government claimed. He refused to answer me, saying: “Let’s leave this subject, Raouf!” It would have been easy for him to say that Imam al-Sadr had left for Italy, and it wouldn’t have mattered to him, being the son of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, his own flesh and blood.

But he prioritized reason over instinct, personal interest, and tribal loyalty, placing the interests of his country first. He was known for his derision of tribes and their interference in politics. I mentioned this information and my meeting with him in an article I published in the Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar in 2015, titled: (Gaddafi, the “Moderate,” Stands Against the “Revolution”: How He Missed His Last Chance and Became a Prisoner). This article is still available on the newspaper’s website for those who wish to read it.

Saif al-Islam Gaddafi was secular in his inclinations, thought, and approach. He was untouched by corruption, and unlike his brothers, he hated nothing as much as he hated power and wealth. This was a moral principle for him. I say this with conviction, and this is why Libyans loved him, even as much as they resented his father, the Colonel’s, policies.

Had he been given the chance to rule Libya, he would have transformed it. From a Third World country to a Second World country—if we can even resort to this hierarchy in judging nations and peoples, speaking of a First World, a Second World, and a Third World, after concepts and terminology have changed, and after the United States, the “mother of the free world,” has revealed a new face under a new, arrogant, and self-absorbed president who exercised his veto power and did not object to the ethnic cleansing perpetrated by Israel in Gaza. He made a statement that would shame even a woman who has lost her modesty, declaring with complete conviction that he wants Gaza to be his “Riviera” on the Mediterranean, so he can enjoy its climate and lie with his bloated belly on its sand stained with the blood of Gaza’s children, women, and elderly.

Yesterday, Saif al-Islam Gaddafi was assassinated… and what’s so surprising about that?

Aren’t we living in a new world ruled by scoundrels, criminals, fools, and bandits?!

Raouf Qubaisi is a Lebanese writer and this article originally appeared in the Arabic Al Rai Al Youm website.

News

IFRC ‘Outraged’ at Killing of Paramedic

CrossFireArabia
February 5, 2026

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) on Wednesday said it is “outraged” by the killing of a Palestinian paramedic during a humanitarian mission in southern Gaza, calling the death a violation of protections for medical and aid workers.

Hussein Hassan Hussein Al-Samiri, a paramedic with the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS), was killed while performing life-saving duties in Khan Younis during an attack in the Al-Mawasi area on Wednesday, the organization said in a statement.

Extending condolences to his family, friends and colleagues, the IFRC expressed “full solidarity” with the PRCS.

“Humanitarian workers and medical personnel must be respected and protected at all times to ensure life-saving assistance can reach people in need,” it said.

It stressed that the Red Cross and Red Crescent emblems are “symbols of protection, humanity, neutrality, and hope,” yet staff and volunteers are “too often” killed while carrying out emergency work.

“The loss of Hussein is a tragic reminder of the dangers faced by those who dedicate their lives to helping others,” the IFRC said, calling the protection of civilians, humanitarian workers and medical personnel “a legal and moral obligation.”

According to the federation, the latest death brings the number of PRCS staff and volunteers killed in the line of duty to 30 in Gaza and two in the West Bank since October 2023. Anadolu