On August 15, 2025, a 20-year-old Palestinian woman named Marah Abu Zuhri died less than 24 hours after being evacuated from Gaza to Italy for emergency medical treatment. Her death, which occurred at Pisa’s Santa Chiara Hospital, has since become the center of an international controversy, highlighting the intersection of humanitarian crisis, medical uncertainty, and the fierce battle over media narratives in the Israel-Gaza conflict.
Initial reports by major outlets such as the Associated Press (AP) and the BBC suggested that Zuhri died of malnutrition after arriving in Italy in a severely emaciated state. According to the AP’s August 16 report—also published in ABC News, U.S. News and World Report, and the Los Angeles Times—Zuhri “arrived in a 'state of severe physical deterioration'" and died after "entering a respiratory crisis and subsequently going into cardiac arrest.” The report cited a U.N. spokesman who said that “starvation and malnutrition in Gaza were at their highest levels since the Israel-Hamas war began,” and that nearly 12,000 children under five had acute malnutrition in July.
However, the AP’s coverage did not include a crucial detail: Zuhri had a pre-existing diagnosis of leukemia. On August 9, Israel released a medical report showing that Zuhri suffered from this severe illness, which can itself cause cardiac arrest by lowering red blood cell levels and increasing the risk of blood clots. Italian media, reporting on the same day as the AP, referenced Zuhri’s “already fragile condition due to acute leukemia.” Yet, the AP omitted this from its description of her condition, and did not update its story to include the leukemia diagnosis, nor did it detail Israel’s role in facilitating her evacuation to Italy at the request of Italian authorities. According to COGAT, the Israeli agency managing humanitarian aid to Gaza, Italy contacted Israel to request Zuhri’s transfer, which was approved, and she and other patients boarded Italian planes in Eilat, Israel.
The BBC’s August 17 article initially echoed the AP, headlining that a “malnourished Gazan woman flown to Italy dies in hospital.” It cited malnutrition death figures from the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry and described Zuhri’s evacuation for treatment while “severely emaciated.” Like the AP, the BBC did not mention leukemia in its original coverage. After Israel disclosed the leukemia diagnosis, the BBC amended its headline to remove the term “malnourished” and added a note acknowledging the complex clinical picture. A spokesman for the BBC explained, “We were not initially aware that Marah Abu Zuhri was being treated for leukaemia. In line with usual editorial practice, we added this to the story after the Israeli authorities put the information into the public domain, in what the hospital has described as ‘a very complex clinical picture.’”
Italian doctors at Santa Chiara Hospital, however, raised new questions about the cause of death. Professor Sara Galimberti, director of Hematology at Santa Chiara, told La Nazione that while leukemia therapy was started on Zuhri’s arrival, “when test results arrived, we stopped treatment because leukemia was not confirmed.” She added that Zuhri had arrived extremely weak, bedridden for a long period, and that the medical team provided high-calorie nutrition and transfusions. Despite these efforts, Zuhri went into acute respiratory failure and suffered a fatal cardiac arrest. No autopsy was performed due to the family’s religious beliefs, though authorities have not ruled out a future forensic examination if deemed necessary.
Italian medical experts emphasized that prolonged malnutrition was almost certainly a critical factor in Zuhri’s deterioration and death. According to Italian media, she weighed just 35 kilograms (about 77 pounds) upon admission. The hospital described her case as a “very complex, compromised clinical picture.” Professor Galimberti noted her death could be linked to malnutrition or an “unspecified pathology.”
The debate over the cause of Zuhri’s death quickly became political. Israeli authorities insisted that leukemia was the primary cause and rejected suggestions that malnutrition played a significant role. The Israeli government also denied that there is widespread malnutrition in Gaza, instead blaming Hamas for the humanitarian crisis. COGAT, the Israeli military body overseeing aid, maintained that Israel had enabled the evacuation and that Zuhri’s illness, not starvation, was to blame.
On the other hand, Palestinian and Italian medical voices, as well as several international media outlets, pointed to Gaza’s dire humanitarian conditions. Gaza’s Health Ministry reported 263 hunger-related deaths, including 112 children, amid worsening conditions caused by border blockades since March 2, 2025. The blockade, imposed by Israel after a ceasefire with Hamas broke down, has severely limited the entry of food, aid, and medical supplies. Rights groups and health organizations have documented extensive damage to Gaza’s medical infrastructure due to airstrikes, blockades on medical supplies, and restrictions on patient movement. The director of al-Shifa Medical Complex in Gaza warned that 55,000 pregnant women are currently suffering from malnutrition.
The BBC, after amending its coverage, faced criticism from multiple sides. Some accused the broadcaster of spreading “shocking misinformation” and anti-Israel rhetoric. Sir Michael Ellis, a former UK attorney general, told The Telegraph, “The BBC’s anti-Israel reporting is an international embarrassment. Their persistent bias against Israel is dangerous, both to the cause of peace in the Middle East and more immediately to the Jewish community in the UK, which has seen unprecedented spikes in anti-Semitism thanks in part to shocking misinformation like this.” Former Labour MP Lord Austin added, “Time and again the BBC is being caught out peddling misinformation and unfounded anti-Israel rhetoric. Once the world’s greatest broadcaster, now known for dishonesty and bias, it’s little wonder that the BBC has become the source of international derision.”
Meanwhile, a joint statement from the foreign ministers of the UK, Australia, Italy, and Spain underscored the gravity of the situation in Gaza: “Famine is unfolding before our eyes. Urgent action is needed now to halt and reverse starvation. Humanitarian space must be protected, and aid should never be politicised.”
As the controversy continues, the tragic death of Marah Abu Zuhri remains emblematic of the broader crisis facing Gaza’s civilians—caught between war, medical catastrophe, and the relentless struggle over how their stories are told to the world.
