As Biden receives care, anger grows over Gaza's untreated cancer patients

On Sunday, Joe Biden’s office announced that the former US president had been diagnosed with prostate cancer. Just days earlier, the last remaining hospital in Gaza providing emergency cancer care was forced to shut down after being bombed by Israeli warplanes.

The European Hospital in Khan Younis, one of the few facilities still treating cancer patients amid Israel’s ongoing military assault, was struck in an airstrike that killed at least 28 people. Following the bombing, Israeli forces ordered the evacuation of staff and patients, effectively ending cancer treatment in the territory.

News of Biden's diagnosis was met with sympathy and well-wishes from US political figures across party lines. But many Palestinians and their advocates struggled to show the same compassion for a man widely dubbed "Genocide Joe" for his administration’s unwavering support of Israel’s war on Gaza.

"This is how Joe Biden spent his last days in office. Trying to expedite an $8 billion arms shipment to Israel. This was after he had already sent Netanyahu $20 billion in weapons. May all the children he helped murder haunt him for eternity," journalist Idrees Ahmad posted on social media.

Others highlighted the grim contrast between Biden’s access to treatment and the complete collapse of Gaza's healthcare system, which has left thousands of cancer patients without life-saving care.

"There are over 10,000 cancer patients in Gaza with no access to medical care. No one knows their names because their lives do not matter," renowned Palestinian poet Mosab Abu Toha wrote on social media following the news of Biden's diagnosis.

"My aunt’s husband, 65 years old, passed away in January 2024 a few weeks after the hospital where he was receiving treatment failed to offer medical services due to Israel’s vicious military campaign," he said.

Palestinian writer Hamza Yusuf shared a screenshot of  a recent news headline reading "Gaza's only cancer hospital goes out of service", commenting: "This is what Israel did to the only cancer hospital in Gaza - with the full backing of Joe Biden."

British journalist Owen Jones condemned Biden for "arming a genocide" and "condemning other cancer patients to death".

"Joe Biden is a monster. He should be treated by medics while he’s in prison," he posted on X.

Writer and activist Margaret Kimberley added: "I have as much empathy for Biden as he had for the people of Gaza. #GenocideJoe."