Consider this from NPR: NPR

Yousef Al-Kurd, who suffered from chronic heart disease, is waiting for his turn to follow Dr. Saher Abu Ghali to Shifa Hospital.

Fatima Shbair/NPR

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Fatima Shbair/NPR

Yousef Al-Kurd, who suffered from chronic heart disease, is waiting for his turn to follow Dr. Saher Abu Ghali to Shifa Hospital.

Fatima Shbair/NPR

A Palestinian’s struggle to get life-saving medical care while living in the Gaza Strip highlights many less visible victims of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict: since the militant group Hamas took control of Gaza there are Israel’s 15-year blockade has resulted in many obstacles for Palestinians seeking essential health care.

Palestinians can try to get medical treatment inside and outside Gaza, but they need a travel permit to choose the latter. And although Israel grants thousands of travel permits a year, the time it takes to get one can be long. Some doctors have also fled Gaza. All of these factors can dangerously delay life-saving treatment.

NPR’s Jerusalem correspondent Daniel Estrin followed a patient’s difficult journey to get heart surgery.

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This episode was produced by Matt Ozug and Brianna Scott. It was edited by Larry Kaplow and Ashley Brown. Our executive producer is Cara Tallo.