Wounded left in limbo by Israel’s invasion of Rafah

Ali Abu Samhan fears he will not be able to walk again.

While he was taking shelter in a school, Israeli forces opened fire on and killed Ali’s cousin.

Ali was struck with a bullet in his pelvis during the attack.

Initially, he received treatment in the hospitals of Khan Younis, southern Gaza. Then Ali was given referrals with a view to leaving Gaza so that he could receive medical care outside the strip.

Israel’s invasion of Rafah, the city bordering Egypt, last month has wrecked his plans.

“My health is very bad and I need treatment abroad,” he said.

“Many doctors have told me that my condition will get worse with time,” he added. “My pelvis has become very fragile and I cannot move out of bed.”

Ali’s friend Rami has been keeping a close eye on him.

According to Rami, “Ali cannot sleep for a single moment” and “cries bitterly every time he looks at his feet and cannot move them.”

All they can do is hope that “the Rafah crossing will be opened soon, to save Ali and thousands like him,” Rami said.

Explosive device

Muhammad, 15, returned to his home following the withdrawal of Israeli ground troops from Khan Younis. He was searching for his belongings when he discovered a box that the Israelis had left behind.

Not realizing what it was, Muhammad began playing with it. Muhammad was right beside the box when it exploded.

After he regained consciousness, Muhammad discovered that he had lost his limbs. His mother and sister were injured in the explosion.

“I used to play football with my friends and we would make kites,” Muhammad said. “Now I cannot hold anything or walk a single step.”

Muhammad wants to have prosthetic limbs fitted so that he can have some mobility.

“I hope that somebody will get me out of Gaza so that I can get my limbs installed,” he said.

“I am still a young boy with dreams and I should have a future,” he added. “I have lost everything now.”

Ashraf al-Qedra, the spokesperson for the Gaza health ministry, cited estimates that 20,000 people have been blocked from leaving Rafah by Israel’s invasion of the city. All are either wounded or have serious diseases.

Since Israel seized the area surrounding the Rafah crossing “no sick or wounded person has been able to leave the Gaza Strip, and those who are abroad cannot return to their homeland,” he added.

He described Rafah’s closure as “a war crime and a blatant violation of the health rights of the sick and wounded under international humanitarian law.”

The situation facing Gaza’s patients who require treatment abroad was already extremely grim before the invasion of Rafah.

Nearly 13,000 requests were made to transfer patients through Rafah between 7 October and last month’s Rafah invasion. Less than 5,000 of the patients concerned were actually transferred, the World Health Organization has stated.

With all of Gaza’s hospitals either forced to stop functioning or pushed way beyond capacity, the Rafah invasion has made a terrible situation far worse.

Ruwaida Amer is a journalist based in Gaza.