GAZA, (PIC)-- The health ministry in Gaza appealed Tuesday to all humanitarian organizations in the world to urgently intervene to save the lives of more than 500 Palestinian patients in need of immediate life-saving medical treatment outside the Strip, warning that any delay could jeopardize their lives any moment.

In a statement received by the PIC, the ministry also warned that the closure of Gaza crossings claimed the lives of more than 200 patients and the toll is likely to increase.

The statement explained that there are about 450 cancer patients in Gaza almost 35 percent of them are children and 25 percent are women, pointing out that those patients are in need of medicines which are unavailable in Gaza; besides, Israel imposes restrictions on their travel for medical treatment abroad. 

The statement also said that there are 400 patients with kidney failure and about 450 heart patients whose treatment depends on medical equipment that no longer work because of the lack of spare parts to service those equipment.

Meanwhile, Palestinian medical sources announced Tuesday that the number of the siege victims rose to 203 after the death of a 59-year-old cancer patient called Hasan Isa.