Children brought from Gaza to heal from war wounds end up in a new war, in Lebanon

BEIRUT (AP) — When Zarifa Nawfal’s family arrived in Beirut for her injured daughter’s surgery, one of the first things she wanted to do was go to the sea. The Mediterranean Sea had been a constant companion in their home in Gaza before the war.

“The moment I smelled the sea, I felt peaceful inside – like I was in Gaza,” she said.

But soon their sanctuary reminded her of home in much more disturbing ways.

Nawfal’s 7-year-old daughter, Halima Abou Yassine, is one of dozens of seriously injured Palestinian children brought to Lebanon this year for treatment through a program launched by a British-Palestinian surgeon, Dr. Ghassan Abu Sitta.

But months after their arrival, Lebanon is itself embroiled in a war any fear will end in Gaza-like destruction.

In February, Nawfal was staying in an apartment in central Gaza with her five children and her mother. They had been driven from their home in the north and Nawfal’s husband was missing, presumed dead.

The children were outside filling water containers when two rockets hit, Nawfal said. She ran outside and found Halima, the youngest, lying in the street, her skull cracked open and her brain exposed.

Despite her shock, Nawfal said, “I was relieved that her body was intact.” In Gaza, explosions often tore people apart, leaving their loved ones without even a body to bury.

Halima’s brother lay unconscious next to her. He was quickly revived in the hospital. But staff at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital confirmed Nawfal’s fears. She said: Halima was dead. Her small body was placed in the morgue.

But as the family prepared to bury her, the little girl’s uncle noticed faint signs of life, the family said.

Al-Aqsa Hospital officials could not be reached to confirm the story. But Abu Sitta, who worked in several Gaza hospitals during the war, said it was not unusual for patients to be wrongly identified as dead in the chaotic situation, as normal protocols for emergency room examinations were often abandoned.

“Due to the sheer number of cases received in each airstrike, ambulance crews immediately took those they believed to be dead to the morgue,” he said.

In the days after her daughter was determined to be alive, Nawfal stayed with her, manually pumping oxygen into her lungs. After a week, the little girl began to breathe on her own. Finally she woke up.

“Some doctors were crying and saying this is a miracle,” Nawfal said.

But all they could do was keep the little girl alive. Her skull was still open and a piece of bone was missing. Her brain was ravaged by an infection.

The family was evacuated to Egypt in May. In July they boarded a plane to Lebanon.

The first of the injured Palestinian children arrived in Lebanon in May. Five-year-old Adam Afana almost lost his left arm in an explosion that killed his father and sister. His arm was paralyzed and he required complex surgery to repair the nerve damage.

At the time, Lebanon was already involved in a simmering conflict between Israel and Hezbollah.

The Lebanese militant group began firing rockets across the border into Israel in support of his allyHamas, on October 8, 2023, a day after Palestinian militants staged the deadly surprise raid in southern Israel that sparked the ongoing war in Gaza. Israel responded with shelling and air strikes.

For months, the conflict in Lebanon was mainly limited to the border area, far from Beirut.

Abu Sitta said he chose Lebanon to treat injured children because the Mediterranean country has specialists with extensive experience in treating war injuries.

Lebanon has experienced numerous conflicts, including a fifteen-year civil war that ended in 1990 and a brutal, months-long war between Israel and Hezbollah in 2006, as well as spillover effects from other regional conflicts.

“Even after the end of the wars (in Lebanon), the wounded from Iraq and Syria would come here for such complex and multi-phase treatment,” Abu Sitta said.

In July, Halima underwent successful surgery to repair her skull at the American University of Beirut Medical Center.

Nawfal said her daughter has persistent memory problems but is improving with therapy. A bright, cheerful child, Halima thrived in Beirut. She swam in the hotel pool, liked to color and played with the other children from Gaza. She walked with her siblings to pick fruit at the neighborhood vegetable stand, wearing a straw hat to cover the scar on the back of her head.

In mid-September, Israel launched one offensive against Hezbollah. It destroyed large parts of Lebanon with airstrikes including Beirut’s southern suburbs and some locations in the city center.