For the past year, the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah and Israel have engaged in exchanges of fire alongside the ongoing conflict in Gaza. However, recent weeks have seen a significant escalation in hostilities. The continuous heavy shelling and artillery battles have severely disrupted medical facilities in the region.

According to The New York Times, more than 10,000 cancer patients still require immediate assistance, even though more than 4,000 patients have fled Gaza for medical treatment since the start of the conflict.

While undergoing therapy in Jordan, patients struggle with emotions of guilt and homesickness. Mohammed, a patient who was given a Hodgkin lymphoma diagnosis in January 2023, went with his mother, Maha, who insisted on taking the family with them.

.@WHO and partners transferred 5 pediatric patients – four cancer patients and a patient with second degree burns – from Al-Ahli hospital yesterday to Nasser Medical Complex. They will continue receiving care there until the cancer patients are able to leave #Gaza for specialised… pic.twitter.com/YxamZekXr6

— Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (@DrTedros) June 24, 2024

At the King Hussein Cancer Centre in Amman, the number of patients from Gaza has increased significantly. Patients live in a hotel nearby, fostering a sense of community. However, uncertainty looms over their futures as many fear returning to a devastated Gaza.

Hussam Shehadeh, another patient, reflects on his separation from his family in Gaza, expressing worries about their safety and his own health. Similarly, 13-year-old Mohammed Abdel Hadi faces emotional challenges after leaving his family behind. He locked himself in his room until a call from his mother persuaded him to continue treatment. As patients navigate their illnesses and the trauma of conflict, many hope to return to Gaza once the war ends, according to an NYT report.

New Delhi:

The Supreme Court Wednesday took a strong note of an undertrial prisoner lodged in a Manipur jail not being taken to a hospital for treatment just because he belonged to the minority ‘Kuki’ community, saying it does not “trust the State”.

A bench of Justices JB Pardiwala and Ujjal Bhuyan made some strong observations against the State while hearing a plea filed by Lunkhongam Haokip that he was suffering from piles and tuberculosis and was not taken to hospital by jail officials despite having severe backache.

“We do not trust the State…The accused was not taken to hospital because he is from the Kuki community. So sad! We direct him to be examined now. If the medical report reveals something serious, we will take you to task,” the bench said.

The counsel for Mr Haokip claimed the jail officials did not pay heed to persistent requests for medical help.

The bench perused an order of the Manipur High Court and found that the undertrial prisoner was not taken to hospital since he was from Kuki community and “shifting him to a hospital will be hazardous taking into account the law and order situation”.

Manipur has been in the grip of an ethnic conflict between the minority Kuki and majority Meitei communities.

The bench directed the jail superintendent and the state authorities “to make necessary arrangements for his transportation to the Gauhati Medical College and get him examined therein. The medical exam shall be as regards piles, TB, tonsillitis, abdominal pain as well as problems in lower lumbar spine”.

It sought a detailed medical report on or before July 15 and asked the state to bear all the expenses, including the treatment cost.

Manipur descended into chaos and violence in May last year over a high court order directing the state government to consider including the non-tribal Meitei community in the list of Scheduled Tribes.

More than 170 people have been killed and several hundred others injured since ethnic violence first broke out in the state on May 3 last year when a ‘Tribal Solidarity March’ was organised in hill districts to protest against the majority Meitei community’s demand for ST status.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)