Comparative survival of cancer patients requiring Israeli permits to exit the Gaza Strip for health care: A retrospective cohort study from 2008 to 2017

Journal article by Benjamin Bouquet, Francesco Barone-Adesi, Mohamed Lafi, and colleagues presenting a retrospective cohort study examining the relationship between the Israeli permit regime and mortality rates among Palestinian cancer patients in Gaza who required exit permits for medical treatment, comparing survival outcomes among patients with successful, unsuccessful, and delayed permit applications from 2008 to 2017. The approval rate for patient permits dropped from 94% in 2012 to 54% in 2017. The study finds that unsuccessful permit applications increased the likelihood of death from cancer by 1.45 times in the 2015-2017 period, providing rare quantitative evidence directly linking Israeli administrative decisions to Palestinian patient mortality. Essential for researchers studying the health consequences of the Israeli permit system and for advocates making evidence-based arguments about the lethal impact of exit permit denials and delays on Palestinian cancer patients, providing the most rigorous empirical documentation of the mortality consequences of the permit regime available in the literature.