‘We want to stay here’ – Gazans in Israel with hospitalized kids

“Every sick Gazan prays to be transferred to Israel for medical treatment by the best doctors,” says Gazan man.

By World Israel News Staff

Fathers of Gazan children with cancer who are being treated in Israeli hospitals are begging to stay in the country, as an ongoing court battle may see them sent back to the Strip.

Each year, hundreds of Gazans with serious illnesses, including minors, are treated at hospitals in central Israel and eastern Jerusalem.

The parents and siblings of ill children from Gaza typically receive permits allowing them to remain in Israel for the duration of the treatment.

But after the Oct. 7th onslaught and ensuing war, the Israeli government informed the hospitals of its intention to return several patients and their families back to the Strip, due to security concerns.

The repatriation was blocked for at least the next 30 days by a Supreme Court decision, but the prospect of the families being forced to return to the Strip has sparked panic among the Gazans in Israel.

“Every sick Gazan prays to be transferred to Israel for medical treatment by the best doctors,” Yusuf, the father of a child with cancer who is being treated at an Israeli hospital, told Ynet.

“There are two million Gazans. Maybe only 20 percent of them belong to Hamas, the rest just want to live.”

According to Yusuf, most Gazans dream of living and working in Israel. He said that upon leaving the Strip and reaching the Jewish state, he felt a “sense of relief, [like] we can finally breathe.”

Yusuf added that his father, who remains in the Strip, told him “as long as you can stay in Israel, stay there. Hamas brought destruction to Gaza.”

“Gazans, including children, died in vain because of Hamas. Who suffers because of this? We, the citizens,” another father, named Muhammad, told Ynet.

“Most [Gazans] have nothing to do with the actions of crazy Hamas,” he added.

Ahmed, another father, said he would happily accept Israeli citizenship if it was offered to him.

“The situation in Gaza is not good. We are very unhappy with what is happening,” he told Ynet.

“We do not want to return to the hell and death that awaits us in Gaza.”