Jerusalem
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Yamen Al-Najjar remembers his previous life – the times when he went to faculty and laughed usually. Today, the 16-year-old lives along with his mom in a cramped 6-square-meter room, simply massive sufficient to maintain a hospital mattress he seldom leaves.
“Life is hard. I am sick and in pain all the time… I feel alone, and I miss home,” he advised NCS.
Yamen, who has a bleeding dysfunction, was medically evacuated from Gaza City along with his mom to a Palestinian hospital in occupied East Jerusalem simply two days earlier than the October 7 assault in 2023.
His situation is uncommon, in accordance to his mom, Haifa Al-Najjar, and his doctors, who’ve struggled to handle his signs and been unable to get him the therapy he wants, even in East Jerusalem.
Al-Najjar has been working to get her son medically evacuated to a 3rd nation for the final two years. She managed to get World Health Organization (WHO) approval for a medical switch however has been searching for 14 months for a bunch nation to settle for her son for therapy.
On Tuesday morning, she obtained information that she mentioned made her coronary heart cease. Doctors at Makassed Hospital advised her that Israeli authorities have determined to ship all Gazan patients back dwelling subsequent week, even those that are at the moment present process therapy.
“All my hard work will vanish before my eyes. I can’t comprehend how a sick child is going to be sent back to a disaster-stricken area… This is a death sentence for my son,” she advised NCS.
Yamen and his mom are amongst at the least 89 Gazan patients and their companions due for deportation, in accordance to medical groups at Makassed Hospital and Augusta Victoria Hospital in East Jerusalem. They advised NCS that whereas some patients have agreed to return to Gaza, the bulk are being despatched towards their will as there isn’t any therapy for them within the battered enclave. The WHO mentioned final month that 94% of hospitals there have been damaged or destroyed.
The youngest of these being deported are infants born to girls who had been introduced to Jerusalem for therapy, whereas the oldest is 85 years previous, hospital authorities mentioned. Most have been within the metropolis since earlier than the struggle.
Salwa Massad, a analysis supervisor at WHO, advised NCS that the group has been requested by the Israeli army’s Coordinator of Government Activities within the Territories (COGAT) to facilitate the switch of the patients early subsequent week.
NCS has reached out COGAT in regards to the potential deportation of sick Palestinians to Gaza however has but to obtain a response.
Yamen’s father, brother and two sisters are in Gaza, displaced in a tent camp in Al-Mawasi within the south after their dwelling in Gaza City was bombed. He hasn’t seen them in two years.
His mom mentioned Yamen’s situation is so poor, he wouldn’t have the ability to survive in a tent even for just a few hours with out medical therapy.
“His blood pressure fluctuates, his temperature is always low, he bleeds all the time, and he suffers from body aches… I categorically refuse to return to Gaza,” she mentioned, tearful.
Israeli non-profit Physicians for Human Rights Israel (PHRI) known as the try to return patients to Gaza “unacceptable from moral, medical, and legal standpoints,”, pointing to Gaza’s “nonfunctional” healthcare system.
“Israel is obligated under international humanitarian law to ensure that patients in need of medical care continue to receive it in the hospitals where they are currently admitted, or in any other hospital in Israel or abroad,” Aseel Aburass, director of the Occupied Territories Department at PHRI advised NCS.
Aburass confused the significance of this obligation, saying it was Israel itself that destroyed Gaza’s well being care system and so “cannot now shirk its responsibility for the lives and health of these patients.”
Ahmad Tibi, a Palestinian-Israeli member of Israel’s parliament echoed that sentiment, telling NCS that Yamen’s welfare is Israel’s accountability.
“Sending them back under the current conditions will be a death blow; instead of dying from an airstrike, he will die from being deprived of medical treatment,” he mentioned.
Nafez Al Qahwaji, from Khan Younis in Gaza, advised NCS that he has kidney failure and wants dialysis thrice every week.
“The hospital informed us yesterday that we will all be deported back to Gaza, I was shocked to hear this after knowing the inhuman conditions that patients live in in Gaza,” he mentioned at Makassed Hospital. “Why do they want to throw me to hell, I will die there in two days.”
Nael Ezzeddine, from Jabalya, has not objected to returning. He has a coronary heart situation and has been at Makassed Hospital for 25 months. He mentioned his dwelling in Gaza was struck by the Israeli army and that he misplaced every thing, however his family members are ready for him.
“I miss my family. I have 10 children and my wife – they are all displaced in a tent in Deir el-Balah. I want to go and be with them. I know how they suffer, but what will I do here?” he mentioned. “They want to force us to leave, and they are threatening to send us back all the time… I’m tired of this. I just want to go to my family, even if I end up dying.”
This is just not the primary time that sick patients from Gaza have confronted this menace.
In March 2024, Israeli authorities had been getting ready to ship back 22 Palestinians from East Jerusalem to Gaza, together with newborns and most cancers patients. Israel’s Supreme Court then briefly halted these plans following a petition by PHRI and a NCS report on the hospital patients.
Most of Yamen’s work are colourful illustrations of nature, landscapes and Palestinian tradition. He mentioned his ardour for artwork comes from his need to “bring color back to a world that has turned gray.”
“I miss my house, my siblings’ voices, my school, colors and the sea. I miss my toys that I gathered throughout my childhood, and every moment when Gaza was safe,” he mentioned.
“I have suffered a lot and I just want to rest… I hope every child in Gaza lives like any child in the world… I don’t want any child to get sick or be afraid like me.”