‘Where is mum?’ asks Israel in Gaza.
“I can’t answer when he asks about his family and mum.” Instead, I take a deep breath and change the subject to evade the issue in a juvenile manner.” Moein Abu Rezk is the only living relative of his four-year-old nephew, Omar, who is in serious condition at the Al-Aqsa Martyrs hospital in Deir al-Balah, in central Gaza. Following an Israeli air attack that Moein claims murdered 35 members of his family, including his mother, father, and grandmother, Omar had to have his left hand amputated and was left with a massive, open wound on his right thigh, minor wounds on his chest and face, and a dislocated jaw.
So far, Moein has opted not to inform Omar about their deaths in case it worsens his health until he can be medically evacuated from Gaza via Egypt mum, possibly as part of a plan led by the UAE government and the Emirates Red Crescent. “He needs to be told the information in a specific way so that he doesn’t go into shock or a state that I can’t control,” Moein said in a series of voice notes to BBC Arabic on Sunday night. He understands that he hasn’t seen any of them, and yet he feels the need to ask: ‘Where is mum? What happened to Grandma? ‘Where have they gone?'”
However, because to the intensive fighting and severe airstrikes near Gaza’s Middle Area, it is not assured that an ambulance will transfer Omar to the Egyptian border. In the first two months of the conflict with Hamas, Israeli ground troops cut Gaza in two mum, completely surrounding Gaza City. Hamas is considered a terrorist group by Israel, the United Kingdom, and other Western states. Tanks and men are already pressing deep into Khan Younis, the southern city. The major roadway from Deir al-Balah has been designated a “battlefield,” leaving residents in the Middle Area with only one ostensibly secure escape route along the Mediterranean coast.
After the Israeli military ordered them to abandon their houses and move south of the Wadi Gaza river two months ago, many Palestinians in Gaza’s north sought safety in the Middle Area. This order occurred at the outset of the conflict, which was sparked by a mum cross-border invasion on southern Israel by Hamas terrorists on 7 October, in which 1,200 people were murdered and around 240 more were held prisoner. According to the territory’s Hamas-run health ministry, more than 18,200 Palestinians have been murdered in Gaza since then. Omar is one of almost 49,000 persons who have been reported injured so far.
According to the Israeli military, its forces are working to remove terrorists, discover weapons, and destroy terrorist infrastructure, and that over 22,000 targets have been hit since the conflict began. Moein told BBC Arabic that Omar and his family were visiting his mum grandmother’s house in Nuseirat camp, just north of Deir al-Balah, when it was bombarded by the Israeli force without notice. We’ve never seen anything like it before. “The missile lands and destroys the entire residential area,” he recounted. Fortunately, [Omar] fell through a hole in the house. However, his left arm was [so terribly] damaged that it had to be amputated right away.
“[On Saturday], he lost about three units of blood and his haemoglobin [concentration] fell from 9.5 to 7.4, so he had to be transferred to surgery for a blood transfer.” According to Moein, the hospital’s condition was so terrible that physicians were unable to find a bed for Omar despite the severity of his injuries, leaving him to wait in a corridor while doctors and nurses treated him as best they could. All medical equipment and tools are so restricted that we must deal with the problem in a more practical rather than healthy manner. Because there are no medications, we have to make him laugh in order to relax him.”
Moein admitted that this strategy only worked occasionally, but added, “We don’t have any other option.” He expressed optimism that Omar will be brought to the Rafah border crossing with Egypt next Thursday and then sent to a hospital for expert care.