Trapped in Baghdad: Gaza Evacuees Face Administrative Limbo and Deprivation

More than two years after being medically evacuated from war-torn Gaza, a group of 46 Palestinians—including 21 patients and 25 family escorts—remain trapped inside Baghdad's Medical City complex. Among them is Hanin Muhammad, a 40-year-old mother who accompanied her sister for a kidney transplant, only to have her travel documents confiscated by Iraqi authorities upon arrival. While her six children are displaced in makeshift tents between Rafah and Khan Younis, unable to communicate due to a lack of internet, Muhammad is confined to the Private Nursing Home Hospital, thousands of miles away.

According to reports from Al Jazeera, the evacuees were flown to Baghdad in May 2024 on a military aircraft coordinated by the Iraqi and Egyptian governments. Upon arrival, their primary identification and travel documents were immediately seized by Iraqi authorities. The Palestinian Embassy issued new passports for those without them, but these documents remain unstamped by the Iraqi government, rendering them functionally useless for travel. The administrative vacuum has left the group in a state of suspended life.

Confiscated Documents and Suspended Lives

The promise of temporary medical treatment quickly evaporated as the evacuees discovered they could not leave. Noor Ibrahim, a young woman who arrived as an escort for her cancer-stricken aunt, described the situation as a betrayal of the initial six-month treatment promise. Engaged for four years and separated from her fiancé in Gaza, she expressed deep frustration at being stuck inside the medical complex without any clear path forward. The stress of confinement has exacerbated underlying health conditions, with her aunt developing new undisclosed health complications and suffering severe psychological distress from being separated from her husband and family.

The administrative runaround is stark. When evacuees have asked for their documents back, they were told the papers are held by Iraqi Intelligence and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. When they protested or spoke to the media five months ago, hospital management retaliated by locking down their ward and banning them from even visiting the hospital garden. Only after journalists wrote about their situation were they allowed limited movement again. The spokesperson for the Iraqi Ministry of Health did not respond to repeated calls, while the head of public relations at the Health Ministry stated the case is "political" and not health-related.

Dire Conditions and Psychological Toll

Daily life for the stranded Palestinians has become a grind of material deprivation and psychological distress. Evacuees are cut off from any monetary stipends and entirely dependent on local charity for basic necessities. Samah Abdul Moati, 65, who battles leukemia, liver cancer, and an arm injury, painted a grim picture of their daily existence. She described hospital food as unfit for consumption, leaving them surviving solely on the grace of local well-wishers. Having lost two sons in the war, with two others injured and her husband fighting cancer alone in a Gaza intensive care unit, she stated that she no longer cares about her own treatment and only wishes to return to her surviving family members.

These stranded evacuations highlight a much broader medical crisis in Gaza. According to Gaza's Health Ministry, more than 20,000 patients and wounded individuals are currently waiting to travel abroad for medical treatment. Over 1,200 children in Gaza now suffer from spinal cord injuries and paralysis directly resulting from Israeli attacks, while an estimated 4,000 children require urgent treatment abroad. Despite the overwhelming need, official data shows that only 154 children have been allowed to leave Gaza since the Rafah crossing partially reopened in February under heavy Israeli restrictions.

A Plea for Basic Human Rights

For the Palestinians stranded in Baghdad's Medical City, the path forward remains blocked. They lack the financial means to buy commercial airline tickets even if their papers are returned, meaning they desperately need a coordinated effort by a charity or government body to facilitate their travel back to Egypt. Hanin Muhammad's plea resonates deeply: "I am begging anyone to intervene so we can get back to Egypt, register, and see our children."

Samah Abdul Moati echoed this sentiment: "I am not asking for a luxury or an exception. I am asking for a simple human right: that my family does not remain divided between life and death. Open a safe path, facilitate our family reunification, and let me return to my family before it is too late." The Iraqi government has yet to provide a clear response, though the newly appointed government spokesperson stated he "will look into the matter." As the evacuees remain locked inside the hospital complex, their case has become a stark symbol of administrative failure and the ongoing human cost of the Gaza conflict.