00:00More than 60 members of the U.S. Congress are urging Israel to ease restrictions on Palestinian cancer patients in
00:07Gaza
00:08so they can access treatment in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem.
00:13The lawmakers are also calling on the Trump administration to help evacuate child cancer patients and their caregivers
00:19and to secure guarantees that they can return to Gaza after receiving treatment.
00:27The appeal came in a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, signed by 62 lawmakers, including Senators Bernie Sanders
00:35and Chris Van Hollen.
00:37They say the number of medical evacuations currently approved by Israel falls far short of what is needed.
00:44The United Nations estimate around 11,000 cancer patients are living in Gaza, where much of the healthcare system has
00:52been damaged or destroyed during the war.
00:54UN figures show more than 1,200 people have died while waiting for permission to leave the territory for medical
01:01treatment.
01:02And despite a ceasefire that took effect in October last year, Israeli strikes have continued in parts of Gaza, further
01:10complicating humanitarian and medical access.
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