Gazans collect aid as Israel announces partial humanitarian pause
::Beit Lahiya, Gaza
::July 27, 2025
The Israeli military said it would cease activity in Al-Mawasi, Deir al-Balah and Gaza City from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. (0700-1700 GMT) until further notice.
The military also announced designated secure routes for convoys delivering food and medicine will also be in place between 6 a.m. and 11 p.m. starting from Sunday.
Dozens of Gazans have died of malnutrition in recent weeks, according to the Gaza Health Ministry in the Hamas-run enclave. A total of 127 people have died due to malnutrition, including 85 children, since the start of the war, the ministry said.
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Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
'Horror' in Gaza is 'incomprehensible,' says US doctor who treated patients there
Dr. Aqsa Durrani, an American physician who has been providing humanitarian work around the world for over 15 years, said amid the harrowing scenes of death and destruction in Gaza, one story especially sticks with her. Found injured and alone after an Israeli airstrike, a 4-year-old girl was taken to a trauma field hospital in central Gaza, she told ABC News. "She was completely in shock. She was not talking and [a colleague] decided, 'I have to take this little girl home and I have try to see if I can help her find her family,'" said Durrani, a pediatric ICU doctor and an epidemiologist who worked with Doctors Without Borders in Gaza earlier this year. Durrani, who said her colleagues are working in conditions that are "incomprehensible," recently gained major attention for an interview on the digital platform "Humans of New York." "He has kids around her age. He tried to feed her, he tried have his kids play with her," Durrani told ABC News. "She was completely non-emotive -- for days. And for those days, he tried to find her family." He looked in the area where the airstrike hit -- a location where displaced people were sheltering -- but he wasn't able to find her family there, according to Durrani. "Finally, he said that he found a man who said that he had a niece that age and that they were staying in that area, so he brought him to her," Durrani said. "He said that when she saw him, she yelled out 'ammo,' which means uncle in Arabic, and she ran to him and hugged him. And it was the first time [my colleague] had heard her speak," Durrani said. MORE: More than 100 aid groups warn of 'mass starvation' in Gaza amid Israel's war with Hamas But this was only one child and it took days to find her family because they had been displaced multiple times, Durrani told ABC News. "I said, 'It's so beautiful that you took her and you were able to reunite her with her uncle.' And he said, 'I have to do that. I have do that because I have to believe that someone will do that for me when this happens to me, or someone will do that for my children,'" Durrani said. "I think the story exemplifies every aspect of the horror that everyone is experiencing," Durrani said. Durrani was based in central Gaza -- working at a trauma field hospital there -- from Feb. 24 to April 24, witnessing the end of Israel's ceasefire agreement with Hamas and the weekslong blockade on all humanitarian aid. Field hospitals -- which are tents and semi-permanent structures -- were meant to offload existing hospitals. At the field hospital where Durrani worked, they were only able to provide care to injured or burn patients, she said. "We could not possibly provide other services with the circumstances that we were in," Durrani said. "We really had to keep it to lifesaving trauma service." "Now, most of the patients that they're receiving are injured at these supposed aid-distribution sites. They are receiving now more patients with gunshot wounds, including children with gunshot wounds. Each day continues to get worse and we have just been witnessing this genocidal violence now for months and months and it's beyond anything that even our most experienced humanitarian colleagues can imagine," Durrani said. MORE: Israeli security cabinet approves Netanyahu's plan to occupy Gaza City The Israel Defense Forces have previously said shooting incidents at aid sites were under review, but has also said in few instances that it fired "warning shots" toward people who were allegedly "advancing while posing a threat to the troops." At least 2,018 have died trying to get humanitarian aid in Gaza and another 15,000 have been injured since May 28, according to Gaza's Hamas-run Ministry of Health. Durrani said her colleagues, despite experiencing constant horror were "committed to doing everything in the best way possible and despite their own personal trauma" and continue to come in every day. "We've had physicians who receive their own family members in the ER during during mass casualty incidents. They're enduring these horrors and also working to provide care in those circumstances," she said. "What I cannot stress enough is that they -- even in those circumstances, and even despite relentless trauma -- were providing beautiful, compassionate, evidence-based care," Durrani said. Durrani recalled one day when they "called a child psychiatrist, who was one of the only child psychiatrists in the whole Gaza Strip, he was so apologetic that he could not come to see the children that day and told us that it was because he was actually himself displaced that day, and that he had lost some of his family members." The majority of their patients were women and children "even though our hospital was for everyone," she said. "We would round on all of the injured patients with the surgeons and go patient by patient. And often there were airstrikes nearby, and the Palestinian doctors and nurses would just speak louder over the bombs. And just continue providing compassionate care to the patients as we continued down the line," Durrani said. MORE: UN says Israel's planned Gaza City military offensive 'must be immediately halted' Food was becoming more scarce toward the end of Durrani's time in Gaza, she said. "Much of our days were actually spent trying to work with other organizations to see if we could find any food to give anyone. At the end, I was only able to provide patients with one meal per day, and mothers and children were sharing one portion of one meal," she said. "I even had one mother say, 'Is there anything you can give my child to distract him from the hunger?' And this was a child who had been burned by a fire that resulted from an airstrike," she said. Durrani said she believes the conditions in Gaza are a "deliberate choice" made by Israeli leadership, and called on the U.S. government to withdraw its support for what she called "complete indiscriminate" violence. The Israeli government has denied that it is limiting the amount of aid entering Gaza and has claimed Hamas steals aid meant for civilians. Hamas has denied those claims. Israel's cabinet has approved plans to expand its military campaign in Gaza, drawing widespread criticism from the United Nations and key allies including Germany. U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk said on Aug. 8 the escalation "will result in more killing, more unbearable suffering, [and] senseless destruction." More than 100 aid groups have warned of "mass starvation" in Gaza, describing a dire food shortage due to the Israeli government's siege. Israeli government spokesman David Mencer pushed back, saying "there is no famine" in Gaza. He blamed Hamas and called the food crisis in Gaza "a man-made shortage engineered by Hamas." MORE: State Department stopping issuance of visitor visas for 'individuals from Gaza' A USAID analysis appeared to undercut Israeli assertions about the extent to which Hamas has allegedly stolen humanitarian aid. A presentation reviewed by ABC News, examining more than 150 reported incidents involving the theft or loss of U.S.-funded humanitarian aid in Gaza, showed that the group failed to find any evidence that Hamas engaged in widespread diversion of aid to cause the amount of hunger seen in the strip. Durrani said providing medical aid in the Gaza Strip was an experience unlike any other. "It's dystopian, but it elicits a very visceral response. It's just completely unfathomable that it's actually, real, everything around you. I entered through the Karam Shalom crossing and we drove through Rafah and Rafah was at that point, even in late February, almost completely destroyed. It just looked like a dystopian reality," Durrani said. Solve the daily Crossword
Boston Globe
4 hours ago
- Boston Globe
‘Everyone closed the door on us': Kids in Gaza need medical treatment, and US should help
However, it should be noted that for Palestinians seeking to leave Gaza for treatment, the vetting process starts with a Gazan doctor making a referral, which must be approved by Gaza's Ministry of Health. The ministry submits names to the World Health Organization, which shares them with host countries. Once a country accepts a patient, Israel vets them and any companions for security risks before deciding whether to allow them to leave Gaza. Get The Gavel A weekly SCOTUS explainer newsletter by columnist Kimberly Atkins Stohr. Enter Email Sign Up Once treatment is complete, evacuees must leave the United States. (Medical humanitarian visas last for six months and can be renewed for up to five years if treatment is continuing.) 'This is a medical treatment program, not a refugee resettlement program,' HEAL Palestine, a nonprofit that organizes Palestinian medical evacuations to the United States, said in a statement. If returning to Gaza is not viable, the organization says patients go to Egypt. Advertisement It's a simple idea and one that represents the best of American values. It's a statement of soft power, the idea that building good will internationally will pay dividends on the international stage. Advertisement The need for medical treatment for Gazans is dire. Even before the war, the Moumen Al-Natour, a Palestinian living in Gaza City who has organized against Hamas and is president of Palestinian Youth for Development, said he has known individuals who died for lack of medical care. Last week, his sister broke her hand and needed surgery, but she was unable to find a hospital to perform the surgery because, Al-Natour alleged, the local hospitals are being used by Hamas for security rather than health care purposes. Al-Natour, who spoke to the editorial board in Arabic through a translator via WhatsApp, said there are field hospitals offering services, generally run by European nations, but they cannot meet the demand. Al-Natour has called for hospitals to be established in 'safe zones' where civilians can live outside of Hamas control, but he said Gazans also need humanitarian visas from the United States to help those who cannot be treated locally. 'When the Ukraine crisis started, we saw all the Western world opened the doors to Ukrainians to come,' he said. 'After Oct. 7, everyone closed the door on us. … You can't lock people in this desolate place in the ruins of war and not allow them to leave.' Advertisement The number of Gazan children brought to the United States for medical care is small, although exact numbers are unknown. A No US tax dollars are used to pay for Gazans' medical treatment. Typically, US hospitals will provide free care, and nonprofits like HEAL Palestine or The Palestine Children's Relief Fund pay for any additional expenses. Recently, Advertisement 'It's not about moving them out of Gaza, it's about saving their lives,' said Dorit Nitzan, director of the School of Public Health at Ben Gurion University of the Negev in Israel and a former World Health Organization official. While some advocates It is not unprecedented for organizations to bring sick or injured children from war zones to the United States. In 2022, after Russia invaded Ukraine, a foundation affiliated with St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Tennessee brought The United States has every right to screen evacuees from Gaza or anywhere else and ensure they don't pose a security threat. But if there are civilian children stuck in a war zone in need of lifesaving treatment, the United States and other Western nations have a moral obligation to help treat them. Editorials represent the views of the Boston Globe Editorial Board. Follow us
Forbes
21 hours ago
- Forbes
What Is Your Health Record Worth? The Unseen Economics Behind Your Medical Data
Two thousand years ago, physicians in Egypt documented their patients' symptoms and treatments on papyrus scrolls. These early medical records served a simple, localized purpose: they supported direct care, were referenced in case discussions, and played a role in medical education. For most of human history, medical documentation was a tool for the physician, with little utility beyond the immediate circle of care. But in the modern era, as records have gone digital, they have transformed into something else entirely: a commodity. Today, medical records are exchanged, aggregated, analyzed, and monetized at a scale unimaginable in the paper era. Governments, researchers, and corporations alike are tapping into their value. Yet, for all the headlines about billion-dollar data deals and the promise of AI-driven breakthroughs, the average American remains largely unaware of what their medical data is worth—or how little control they have over it. In fact, the reality of the health data economy may surprise many. While one survey suggests that 70% of Americans would only be willing to share their records for more than $1,000, the actual price those records fetch is often far lower. For instance, despite claims that hackers can sell health data for $250 per record, consider last year's Change Healthcare hacking episode. A security breach compromised the data of over 190 million Americans at the company, which is a UnitedHealth Group subsidiary. UnitedHealth Group reportedly paid the hackers $22 million in ransom—an implicit valuation of just 11.5 cents per record. More challenging still, individuals are rarely in a position to benefit from the emerging market for health data in any meaningful way. The Evolution of the Medical Record Historically, the medical record was a tool of practice and pedagogy. In the 19th and 20th centuries, hospitals and teaching institutions developed increasingly sophisticated case files, supporting diagnoses, treatments, and post-mortem reviews. But the paper record had limits: it was static, siloed, and difficult to scale. Its value was largely confined to the provider who created or maintained it. This began to change with the advent of electronic health records (EHRs), especially following the 2009 enactment of the HITECH Act as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The federal government allocated billions to incentivize the adoption of EHR systems, explicitly aiming to create a "learning healthcare system" that could generate insights from aggregated clinical data. Digitization brought tremendous promise. Actual medical records, with discrete and detailed clinical data, could now be searched, shared, and studied. Health systems could coordinate care more effectively. Researchers could analyze trends across populations. And during the COVID-19 pandemic, the ability to report and track public health data in real time became critically important. But digitization also created new opportunities—and incentives—for data monetization. Who Buys Health Data, and Why? Health data is now big business, with most estimates pegging the market between $2B and $8B. And for good reason: the ability for researchers to investigate vast de-identified digitized datasets to understand how both individuals and therapies behave and respond in the real world (known as Real World Data or RWD), versus the rigid confines of clinical trials, holds the promise of increasing the pace and lowering the cost of medical discovery. In many ways, de-identified health data is nothing new: researchers and others have had access to some data for decades, thanks to medical claims data created by billing and reimbursement between providers and health plans. Claims data, however, can be thought of as a mile wide, an inch deep: it can tell the journey of patients, but isn't sharp on the details. What is new, then, is the depth and robustness of health records themselves: clinical notes, lab values, procedures, outcomes, etc. Pharmaceutical companies now buy RWD to identify candidates for clinical trials and assess treatment effectiveness. Health insurers analyze it to manage costs and stratify patient risk. Startups and AI firms use it to train algorithms, while public health agencies rely on it to monitor disease patterns. Despite these widespread uses, there's still little transparency around what health records are actually worth. That question is further complicated by ethical and legal considerations, which shape not only the price of data but who gets to profit from it. The Ethics and Regulation of Health Data Sharing A recent glaring example of the public's unease with health data and big tech is the story of Project Nightingale. In 2019, Google and Ascension Health launched a partnership to analyze millions of patient records. Both organizations acted within legal boundaries: HIPAA allows patient data sharing for treatment, payment, and healthcare operations purposes. Nonetheless, a whistleblower raised concerns, and public backlash was swift. Critics argued that the scale of the data sharing and the lack of transparency violated patient trust. Healthcare data can be used for other purposes (including research, analytics and/or commercial purposes), but must first be deidentified. The process of deidentification, defined by HIPAA, requires the removal of 18 types of identifiers or an expert determination that the risk of reidentification is very low. But deidentification isn't foolproof, especially with advanced re-identification techniques. And even when the rules are followed, public sentiment may differ from regulatory interpretations. The Project Nightingale controversy illustrates a central tension: legal permissibility does not always equate to ethical acceptability. As data sharing scales and becomes more commercialized, that distinction becomes increasingly salient. What Does The Data Say About The Value Of Health Data? So what is the value of a medical record? According to conversations with several industry experts, the answer depends on several factors. And for people interested in the value of their own health data, it may be disappointing. In general, records of healthy individuals or those with common, well-managed conditions tend to be worth very little. Their data is often less useful for clinical research, predictive modeling, or training AI models. On the other hand, records associated with specific diseases, especially rare or complex conditions, can command far higher value. This is particularly true when the data includes structured lab results, imaging, medication histories, and genomic information. For example, primary care records may be valued as low as 50 cents per patient. Medical imaging data (from MRIs, CT scans, ultrasounds or X-rays) may be worth $30, depending on the underlying medical condition, purpose and location of the scan. In contrast, oncology medical records can be worth between $950 and $2,000 per patient, and genomic data alone can command $1,700 to $5,000. When genomic data is linked with phenotypic data, a combination prized by precision medicine companies, the value can exceed $6,000. Also worth noting is that these figures tend to represent value, not prices. Value in this context refers to the revenue a record holder can generate over time from selling data to multiple customers, rather than the price they might get from an individual buyer. For instance, while Tempus AI, a genomic lab company, realized an average of $1,899 in revenue per de-identified record, this was over a five year time horizon. Further data from Tempus suggests that health data may be subject to normal economic laws: as supply increases, prices may come down. Its revenue generated per record for new patients has decreased over successive years, from $502 per record in 2019 to $128 per record in 2023 (based on the author's firm's analysis). Further, the price a data broker or pharmaceutical company is willing to pay varies depending on the specific use case they are focused on, the supply and availability of similar data, and the ease of acquisition. Why It's Not Easy To Cash In There are several reasons why individual Americans can't easily profit from the value of their health data. First, while federal law (via HIPAA) guarantees a right of access to one's medical records, most patients do not have a comprehensive or consolidated copy. Health data is often fragmented across hospitals, clinics, pharmacies, labs, and insurers. Second, even with digital access, which most providers are now enabled (and effectively mandated) to make available, individual patients lack the market power or technical means to sell their data. The demand side of the data economy (e.g., pharmaceutical companies) generally needs hundreds or thousands (or more) records to suit their research purposes. Aggregated datasets are more valuable and easier to use than individual records. As a result, natural aggregators like hospitals, health systems, and EHR vendors are better positioned to meet that demand. Third, most individuals lack the necessary tools to de-identify their data or license it for specific purposes. While some technology companies are attempting to create platforms for personal data monetization, these remain nascent and face significant adoption and regulatory hurdles. There are companies out there seeking to change this paradigm. San Francisco-based Evidation Health has raised hundreds of millions of dollars to create a technology platform to help consumers aggregate their health and wellness data and enable them to participate in sponsored research. 'Individuals' data has value, and we believe they should share in that value,' notes Evidation's CEO Leslie Oley Wilberforce. Despite Evidation's progress - the company raised more capital in 2024 to accelerate growth - consumer awareness and adoption of these types of platforms remains nascent. The result is a market that extracts value from consumers without empowering them to participate. Americans may believe their data is worth hundreds of dollars, but without access, infrastructure, or market presence, they remain on the outside looking in. Case Study: 23andMe Perhaps no example better encapsulates the promise and peril of consumer health data than 23andMe. Once a darling of the direct-to-consumer genomics boom, the company amassed genetic data from more than 15 million people. It offered inexpensive at-home DNA tests, promising ancestry insights and health risk predictions. But the real business model was always data. 23andMe struck multiple deals with pharmaceutical companies, including a major collaboration with GlaxoSmithKline. These agreements were designed to monetize its enormous trove of genomic and phenotypic data for drug discovery and clinical research. Yet by 2025, the company had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Just weeks later, it was acquired by Regeneron for a mere $256 million—a dramatic fall from its $6 billion valuation just a few years prior. The decline was accelerated by a 2023 data breach affecting 6.9 million users, and growing public unease over privacy practices. The 23andMe story is a cautionary tale. Consumers willingly handed over their most intimate biological data, only to see that data become an asset in corporate transactions they had no control over. Even if Regeneron maintains 23andMe's stated privacy policies, the legal and ethical framework governing genetic data in the U.S. remains weak and fragmented. Conclusion: A Market With Limited Participation We began this story on papyrus scrolls, when medical records served the care of a single person and had little value beyond their immediate use. Today, we live in an age where those records are digitized, replicated, analyzed, and sold, often without the knowledge or benefit of the people to whom they pertain. So what is your health data worth? The disappointing answer is: it depends, but don't quit your day job, because you likely can't capitalize on it yet anyway. As the health data economy matures, we must grapple with fundamental questions: Who benefits? Who decides how data is used? And how can patients be treated not just as data points, but as participants in a system built on their personal information? In the next article in this series, we'll explore how health data is actually priced: who pays what, for which kinds of data, and what that tells us about the real value of your medical record.
