I lost my hair in an Israeli air strike. Now other children are scared of me
Hala Abu Dahleez was playing on a swing in the sprawling Al-Mawasi refugee camp in southern Gaza when she was caught in an Israeli air strike. The impact of the blast ripped the swing's metal structure apart, and its heavy iron chains wrapped around her head, tearing parts of her hair and scalp away.
Hala spent five days in a coma, and her scalp was reattached to her head using 175 stitches. But she told The Telegraph that she can barely leave her tent in Khan Younis, where she has been living since she was displaced from Al-Mawasi.
'I used to be more beautiful,' she said. 'I want to play with other children again like I used to. When I go out, the children are afraid of me and everyone asks me: 'Why don't you have any hair?''
Her family and doctors are calling for help to get her out of the Strip where she can get skin grafts and plastic surgery procedures that the remaining hospitals in Gaza struggle to carry out.
Hala still carries around clumps of her plaited long brown hair that was torn from her head, refusing to throw it away until new hair is able to grow back. Her injuries have left her with severe ulcers and infections.
'I want to get a hair transplant and return to how I was before the bombing,' she said through tears. 'Before the war, I used to go to school, meet my friends, and play with them. Now ... I have no hair and no school to go to.'
Hala is one of more than 50,000 children in Gaza who have been killed or injured in Israel's 21-month war against Hamas and nearly every child in Gaza has been displaced. Israel disputes these figures.
She was injured on March 26 but her story is only being told now, four months later, as extraordinary pictures emerged showing the extent of her injuries as she held the lock of her hair that she lost. It is not clear what the intended target of the March air strike was.
When Hala was injured in the blast, the children she had been playing with told her mother she had died. They had seen her laying bloodied on the ground, her head torn apart.
She is the oldest of seven children, and her parents, both injured in separate shellings, said they are struggling to find food and medicine.
'Some people help us buy medicine and dressings. She needs an IV bag and sterile gauze daily. We can not provide Hala with good, healthy food,' said Mayada Yousef Dahleez, Hala's mother.
'She needs medical daily care, and hardly a day goes by without crying and remembering her hair,' she added.
Ongoing border closures have so far prevented Hala's evacuation. Her family fear she could contract further infections if her health deteriorates.
Her story emerged as Israel intensified its bombardment of the Strip over the last two weeks.
The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said they try to minimise harm to civilians, but there have been mounting casualties in recent days, with accusations that dozens more civilians have been killed while seeking aid.
Just last week, six children were among 10 civilians killed in an IDF missile strike while collecting water in Nuseirat refugee camp. The Israeli military claimed a 'technical error' was behind the attack.
The escalating strikes over the weekend brought the death toll in Gaza to more than 58,000, according to the Hamas-run health ministry. Women and children make up more than half of those killed, according to the ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants.
Benjamin Netanyahu, the prime minister of Israel, said the war cannot end until Hamas is dismantled and disarmed and the 50 hostages, only 20 of whom are believed to still be alive, are freed. Hamas wants a genuine withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza to end the war.
Despite optimism last week, talks are threatening to collapse under the weight of Israel's reported demands to keep its troops in roughly one-third of Gaza and retain a buffer zone around Rafah, which Hamas has rejected.
Israel's hard-line leadership's plans to create a 'humanitarian city' on the ruins of Rafah, in which the Strip's two million people could be herded in, vetted and prevented from leaving, could also torpedo talks.
The IDF said in a statement: 'In stark contrast to Hamas' intentional attacks on Israeli men, women and children, the IDF follows international law and takes feasible precautions to mitigate civilian harm.'
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