Israel Says the Gaza Woman Who Died in Pisa Had Leukaemia

Marah Zohry, a 20-year-old woman from the Gaza Strip who was widely reported to have died of malnutrition after being evacuated to Italy, in fact died of leukaemia, Israel said on Sunday, according to a statement issued through the Press Service of Israel on 17 August 2025.

The claim was made by the Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories, the Israeli defence ministry body known as COGAT that handles civil affairs in Gaza and the West Bank. “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 several possible dates for the transfer,” COGAT wrote. It added: “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 its twisted agenda.” The post included a photograph of a document from the Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis, in southern Gaza, which COGAT said confirmed her illness. Zohry arrived at Pisa University Hospital late on the Wednesday and died on the Friday.

What the Italian hospital said

The hospital’s own description was more cautious than either version. The Times of Israel reported on 17 August 2025 that the University Hospital of Pisa said she had arrived in a “state of severe physical deterioration” with a “very complex clinical picture” and serious wasting, and died following a respiratory crisis and cardiac arrest after tests had begun and treatment had started. The same report noted that the BBC, the Guardian and Agence France-Presse had described her as arriving in severe malnutrition, citing Italian media, although the hospital had not stated that as a diagnosis.

The BBC amended its report

The day after this statement, the BBC changed its account. The Jerusalem Post reported on 18 August 2025 that a BBC spokesperson said the broadcaster had “not initially [been] aware that Zohry was being treated for leukemia”, and that it amended its headline and added a note attributing her death to the hospital’s “very complex clinical picture” rather than to malnutrition. Medical records cited in that reporting identified acute promyelocytic leukaemia, a form of the disease that is rapidly fatal if untreated.

Hunger in Gaza was formally declared five days later

The dispute over one death sat inside a much larger argument about whether Gaza was starving, and that argument was settled, in the technical sense, within the week. On 22 August 2025 the World Health Organization announced that the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification had confirmed famine in Gaza Governorate for the first time, the first formal famine confirmation anywhere in the Middle East. More than 500,000 people were in catastrophic conditions, the WHO said, and more than 12,000 children had been identified as acutely malnourished in July alone, the highest monthly figure recorded there.

What COGAT said about the wider figures

The release cited a recent COGAT report accusing the Hamas-run health ministry of presenting malnutrition data in a “biased and misleadingly” way, sometimes attributing to hunger the deaths of people with severe pre-existing conditions. COGAT called the reports “false” and “a timed pressure tool” to turn international opinion against Israel. The release also referred to an investigation by the Press Service of Israel published in July 2025 which said that, on the United Nations’ own numbers, 85 per cent of aid entering Gaza by truck since 19 May had been stolen, and that black-market profiteering and inflation had put much of the food in Gaza markets beyond most Palestinians’ reach.

What is still unclear

Neither the release nor COGAT published an official Italian cause of death, and the Nasser Hospital document was released by COGAT rather than by the hospital, the Italian authorities or the family, none of whom are quoted. The statement did not say when Israel proposed the earlier evacuation dates or why the transfer did not happen sooner. The 85 per cent aid-theft figure is the Press Service of Israel's own analysis; Israel.com has not seen the underlying United Nations data.