Van Hollen Joins Markey, McGovern, Colleagues in Pressing for Reestablishment of Medical Evacuation Corridor from Gaza

Today, U.S. Senators Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) and Ed Markey (D-Mass.) and U.S. Representatives Jim McGovern (D-Mass.), Maxine Dexter (D-Ore.), Madeleine Dean, (D-Pa.), and 57 of their colleagues sent a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio demanding the Administration take immediate action to alleviate the humanitarian crisis facing cancer patients in Gaza.

In their letter, the lawmakers called on the Administration to press the Israeli government to reestablish a medical corridor that would allow Palestinian cancer patients in Gaza to obtain life-saving medical care in East Jerusalem and the West Bank. The lawmakers also demanded that the Administration ensure hospitals and medical infrastructure in Gaza are rebuilt and protected.

"Cancer diagnoses have become death sentences in Gaza," wrote the lawmakers in their letter. "It is imperative that the United States and its regional partners urge the Israeli government to reestablish a medical pathway for cancer patients in Gaza to receive life-saving treatment in East Jerusalem and the West Bank."

The letter highlighted a six-year-old boy named Ghazal, who was diagnosed with leukemia and died while waiting for his evacuation request to be approved by the Israeli government. The lawmakers noted that more than 18,500 Palestinians require urgent medical care that is unavailable in Gaza, including approximately 11,000 cancer patients.

The lawmakers provided five recommendations for Administration action:

• Engage the governments of Qatar, Egypt, and Türkiye in a coordinated diplomatic effort to secure medical evacuations for pediatric cancer patients and their caregivers from Gaza to appropriate medical facilities in East Jerusalem and the West Bank;
• Facilitate the reestablishment of the medical corridor between Gaza and East Jerusalem and the West Bank for all patients requiring medical evacuation;
• Obtain assurances from the Israeli government that evacuated patients and caregivers will be permitted to return to Gaza once they are able;
• Ensure that Palestinians can rebuild and protect hospitals and medical infrastructure in Gaza; and
• Respond to all questions raised in a November 2025 letter by Senator Markey and Representative Dexter.

The full text of the letter is available here and below.

Dear Secretary Rubio,

We write with concern regarding the perilous situation of cancer patients trapped in Gaza without access to appropriate medical treatment. It is imperative that the United States and its regional partners urge the Israeli government to reestablish a medical pathway for cancer patients in Gaza to receive life-saving treatment in East Jerusalem and the West Bank. In addition, the United States must ensure that Palestinians are able to rebuild and protect hospitals and medical infrastructure in Gaza.

More than 18,500 Palestinians require urgent medical care that is currently unavailable in Gaza, approximately 11,000 of whom are cancer patients. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 94 percent of Gaza's hospitals have been damaged or destroyed. The near-complete collapse of Gaza's health systems included the destruction of its only specialized cancer treatment facility, the Turkish-Palestinian Friendship Hospital, which became inoperative early in the war and was subsequently destroyed by the Israeli military on March 21, 2025. Other health facilities have been unable to fill the gap, and access to diagnostic services, chemotherapy, radiation, and most types of surgery is virtually nonexistent. The Israeli government has permitted a limited number of medical evacuations to third countries, but that mechanism has been insufficient to meet the needs of Palestinians in Gaza.

As a result, cancer diagnoses become death sentences in Gaza, where doctors estimate that cancer deaths have tripled since October 2023. An illustrative example is the story of Ghazal, a six-year-old boy who was diagnosed with leukemia. His family requested that he receive a medical evacuation to seek treatment, which can result in survival rates of up to 92 percent for some types of pediatric leukemia. The approval never came. Ghazal died after two months of waiting.

More than 1,200 people have, like Ghazal, died while waiting for evacuation. In November 2025, five Israeli organizations filed a High Court petition with expert affidavits calling these "preventable deaths, nothing less." Despite the overwhelming humanitarian imperative, the Israeli government has largely refused to permit medical evacuations to the West Bank due to "security concerns" since 2023. While the Israeli government has a responsibility to ensure the safety of its residents, it is also obligated under international law to "ensur[e] and maintain…[medical] services, public health and hygiene" for the people of Gaza, insofar as it exercises control over the territory, and to refrain from collective punishment.

Before October 2023, an established medical referral corridor regularly allowed patients from Gaza to seek medical care less than an hour away in East Jerusalem and the West Bank. We welcome the news of the first such transfer since the start of the war following an order of the Jerusalem District Court, and urge that the medical corridor now be permanently reestablished to prevent further loss of life.

Hospitals across East Jerusalem and the West Bank stand ready to receive patients. Augusta Victoria Hospital, the only facility providing comprehensive radiation services to Palestinians in the occupied territories, and several West Bank hospitals with oncology departments, possess the capacity to treat every child with cancer in Gaza. With the support of the Patriarchs and Heads of Churches in Jerusalem, Augusta Victoria Hospital can cover all costs related to the transportation and treatment of pediatric leukemia patients. An Israeli humanitarian organization, Gisha, has long handled the logistics of medical evacuations and is prepared to resume operations immediately. The only obstacle between these patients and the treatment they desperately need is the Israeli government's approval of their evacuation requests.

In response to this crisis, we urge the Administration to take the following steps:

1. Engage the Governments of Qatar, Egypt, and Türkiye in a coordinated diplomatic effort to secure medical evacuations for every pediatric cancer patient and their caregivers in Gaza to Augusta Victoria Hospital and other appropriate medical facilities in East Jerusalem and the West Bank.
2. Facilitate the reestablishment of the medical corridor between Gaza and East Jerusalem and the West Bank, such that all patients in need of medical evacuation from Gaza may be granted it in accordance with humanitarian principles.
3. Attain assurances from the Israeli government that all patients and caregivers who are evacuated from Gaza will be permitted to return to Gaza when they are able.
4. Ensure that Palestinians are able to rebuild and protect hospitals and medical infrastructure in Gaza.
5. Provide responses to the questions posed in the November 24, 2025 letter sent to you by Senator Markey and Representative Dexter.

Thank you for your attention to this critical issue. We respectfully request a response by June 24, 2026.

Sincerely,