A Gazan woman who died Friday in an Italian hospital after being transferred for treatment was suffering from leukemia, the Israeli Defense Ministry’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) unit said on Sunday.
Marah Zohry was flown to the Italian city of Pisa with her mother on an overnight flight Wednesday, in a humanitarian operation in coordination with the Italian government.
International media outlets led by the BBC reporting her death this weekend highlighted her malnutrition without mentioning her cancer diagnosis.
“The hospital said she had suffered severe loss of weight and muscle,” the BBC wrote, “while Italian news agencies reported she was suffering from severe malnutrition.”
The report went on to cite United Nations claims of “widespread malnutrition” in the Gaza Strip.
“The facts which the [BBC] report did not mention: 20-year-old Marah Zohry suffered from leukemia,” COGAT posted on X, affixing a copy of her Aug. 9 medical report from Gaza’s Naser Hospital.
According to the Gaza hospital report, Zohry was suffering from pancytopenia, indicating a failure of bone marrow function, and pleural effusion with high lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), and was undergoing convulsions.
Israel had approved an Italian request to evacuate the woman because of her illness, and had proposed several earlier dates for her transfer, the Israeli Defense Ministry unit said.
“Israel facilitates the medical transfer of patients, with a focus on children, and encourages countries around the world to make such requests, while Hamas keeps cynically exploiting them for their twisted agenda,” COGAT posted on X Sunday.
#TheFacts, which the report did not mention: 20-year-old Marah Zohry suffered from leukemia.
— COGAT (@cogatonline) August 17, 2025
Italian authorities contacted Israel requesting Marah’s evacuation *due to her illness*, and Israel approved it. Her evacuation could have taken place earlier, as Israel had proposed… https://t.co/1xu604EppK pic.twitter.com/iVyaJoMvqm
“Will the BBC retract the story and apologize?” U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee asked Sunday on X. “Of course. The same day a Baskin Robbins opens a franchise in hell.”
Will the BBC retract the story and apologize? Of course. The same day a Baskin Robbins opens a franchise in hell. https://t.co/i2ax2rsjcr
— Ambassador Mike Huckabee (@GovMikeHuckabee) August 17, 2025
Earlier this month, The New York Times was widely criticized for running a front-page photo of a “starving” Gaza boy who turned out to be suffering from cerebral palsy
Meanwhile, nearly 1,700 supply trucks, primarily containing food, entered the Gaza Strip over the past week, COGAT said on Sunday.
The Defense Ministry body responsible for coordinating and facilitating the transfer of aid to the Gaza Strip said that nearly 2,250 trucks were collected and distributed from the Gazan side of the Kerem Shalom and Zikim crossings by the U.N. and other international organizations.
“More consistent collection and distribution by U.N. agencies and international organizations = more aid reaching those who need it most,” COGAT posted on X. “We will continue facilitating humanitarian aid into Gaza for the civilian population—not Hamas.”
The U.N. has said 600 trucks of aid need to be distributed each day to properly feed the Strip’s roughly two million people.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly denied allegations of starvation in Gaza, insisting that Israel allowed sufficient aid in throughout the war, while Hamas has disrupted the flow of supplies and the United Nations has failed to properly distribute it, leading to deprivation.
