From our special correspondent in Ramallah – Since Israel imposed a blockade on Gaza in the wake of Hamas’s October 7 terrorist attack, many Gazans in search of medical care for their children have found themselves stuck in Ramallah, in the West Bank. Some have not heard from their loved ones for days or even weeks, and are torn between the hope of securing treatment for their children and the desire to return home to their families in Gaza.
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Ahmed Abu Asar, a Gazan father of six, sits and stares into empty space. He is desperate. He has spent the past two months in Ramallah with his 10-year-old daughter Ariam, but since the hostilities broke out, they are stuck.
“My daughter has been sick for the past three years. She was being treated in Gaza, but the doctors told us we had to bring her elsewhere to do more tests.” Ahmed, who is in his 40s, recounts how, for the past two years, he has done everything in his power to get treatment for his daughter. The journey has brought them from Gaza to Egypt and, most recently, to the Israeli-occupied territories.
“Ariam was supposed to undergo a test they can only do in Israel. She has been diagnosed with a rare genetic mutation. There are probably only four similar cases in the world, but obviously there’s no treatment for it here in Ramallah,” he says with resignation, smoking cigarette after cigarette.
“We were waiting to hear back from the doctor to see whether we need to go to the United States, France or Israel for the right treatment.”
Ahmed calls for Ariam to…
Source : france24
