Six premature infants have died in Gaza this year due to lack of medication
Hamza Sakar breathes through the nebulizer. He urgently needs a bone marrow transplant, but his permit to the West Bank for unknown reasons. (Photo: Mersiha Gadzo)
Ahmad Hanadi, around 18 months old, before he fell ill. (Photo courtesy of the family of Ahmad Hanadi).
Yasmine Hanadi soothes her son Ahmad Hanadi. (Photo: Mersiha Gadzo)
Ahmad Hanadi. (Photo: Mersiha Gadzo)
At Nasser hospital in Khan Younis, southern Gaza, six-year-old Ahmad Hanadi cries in pain. He suffers from a severe type of skin sclerosis–it’s the only case in Gaza and the seventh case in the world.
“There’s something in his chest,” his mother Yasmine Hanadi explained, while she propped Ahmad on his side like a doll, as he can no longer move his joints.
After analyzing his skin in Jerusalem, doctors discovered that he most likely developed the disease by inhaling toxic fumes caused by the Israeli military assault on the Gaza Strip in 2012.
Born on the first day of the eight-day assault, the Hanadi family lives on farmland in the outskirts of Khan Younis. In these open areas, one can easily breathe in the toxic fumes, Yasmine explained.
They need to visit a hospital in Jerusalem for treatment in early March and so the specialist can conduct further tests and transfer the information to the U.S. to be analyzed since his case is especially rare.
But Israel has denied their exit permit three times in the last three months. They have applied again and are also waiting for a medical permit from the PA. However, Yasmine doubts that the PA will provide them financial cover since they have said in the past that his case is too expensive.
“The PA doesn’t even recognize us as Palestinians to help us,” Yasmine said.
“Ahmad has the right to receive treatment and to recover. I will be grateful for any support that we can get.”
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