In southern Gaza’s Nasser Hospital, heartbreak fills every corridor. Amid the fragile ceasefire, children are dying — not from bombs, but from being trapped without medical care.
Two ten-year-old boys lie in separate wards. One, shot in the neck by Israeli fire, is paralyzed for life. The other suffers from a brain tumor that could be removed — if only he were allowed to leave Gaza.
Ola Abu Said gently strokes her son Amar’s hair. He was struck by a stray bullet while sitting in a tent with his family. The bullet remains lodged between his vertebrae. “He needs urgent surgery,” she pleads. “But doctors told us Gaza’s hospitals cannot handle such a case. Without equipment, even a simple operation can kill him.”
After two years of relentless war, Gaza’s medical system has collapsed. Power shortages, destroyed hospitals, and a lack of basic supplies have turned what remains into a humanitarian graveyard.
Nearby, 10-year-old Ahmad al-Jadd’s sister, Shahd, watches over him. Ahmad once sold bottled water to help support the family. Now, a tumor has stolen his smile. “We can’t lose him,” Shahd says tearfully. “We already lost our father, our home, and our dreams. The ceasefire gave us a little hope — maybe just 1% — that Ahmad could travel for treatment.”
The World Health Organization (WHO) says over 15,000 Gazans need emergency evacuation for medical treatment. On Wednesday, the first convoy since the ceasefire took just 41 patients out of Gaza via Israel’s Kerem Shalom crossing. Thousands more remain stranded.
The WHO and UN are pushing to reopen Gaza’s Rafah crossing with Egypt to speed up evacuations. But Israel insists it will remain closed until Hamas returns the bodies of deceased hostages, citing security conditions.
WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has urged Israel to allow patients to receive care in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, where Palestinian hospitals have decades of experience treating Gazans.
Dr. Fadi Atrash, CEO of Augusta Victoria Hospital, said, “We can treat 50 patients a day — chemotherapy, radiation, surgery. It’s the fastest, safest, most humane option.”
Yet politics continues to suffocate medicine. Israel’s coordination body, COGAT, said the decision lies with the political echelon. The Prime Minister’s Office gave no comment.
Since the Hamas-led October 2023 attacks, Israel has cited security concerns for restricting patient movement — pointing out that Hamas once targeted the Erez crossing.
Meanwhile, Gaza’s health ministry reports that at least 740 people — including nearly 140 children — have died waiting for evacuation since last year.
Dr. Ahmed al-Farra, Nasser Hospital’s head of paediatrics, says it’s agony to diagnose illnesses without the means to treat them. “Every day we lose children we could have saved,” he laments.
Last week alone, three children — Saadi, Zain, and Luay — died of treatable diseases like cancer and hepatitis. Their only mistake was being born in a place where medicine cannot reach.
Unless global powers act swiftly, thousands more will join them — not as casualties of war, but as victims of inaction.
o my god
ReplyDelete