After months of waiting, Fida Ghanem was granted a permit by Israel and Egypt to leave Gaza for urgent lymphoma treatment in the spring. But the next morning, Israeli forces seized the only border crossing from Gaza to Egypt, in Rafah, as part of a military offensive against Hamas in the area. “She should have been allowed to leave as soon as they found the cancer,” said her husband, Maher Ghanem. “But it was delay after delay.”For nearly all Gazans, the southern Rafah crossing has been the only way out since the war began nine months ago. Image Fida Ghanem with her husband, Maher Ghanem, in May.

---

Persons: Fida Ghanem, Ghanem, ”, Maher Ghanem, Israel, Tania Hary Organizations: Hamas, Aid, World Health Organization Locations: Israel, Egypt, Gaza, Rafah