Latest news with #Haneen
Arab News
02-05-2025
- Health
- Arab News
Palestinian girls arrive in UK for medical treatment
LONDON: Two young Palestinian girls have arrived in the UK for medical treatment of serious health conditions. The girls, named by the BBC as Ghena, aged 5, and Rama, 12, are the first Gazans to be given temporary UK visas since Oct. 7, 2023. They flew from Egypt, where they have been living with complex conditions after Gaza's healthcare system collapsed during Israel's invasion. Rama, who has a serious bowel condition, previously lived in Khan Younis and told the BBC: 'We were so scared. We were living in tents and shrapnel from airstrikes used to fall on us. 'Mum used to suffer so much going to hospitals while bombs were falling and would stand in long queues just to get me a strip of pills. Here I'll get treatment and get better and be just like any other girl.' Her mother told the BBC: 'I'm very happy for Rama because she'll get treatment here. As a mother, I felt so sorry in Gaza because I couldn't do anything to help her. 'To see your daughter dying in front of your eyes, day by day, watching her weaken and get sicker — it pained me.' Ghena has fluid pressing against her optic nerve, which could cause blindness if left untreated. Her mother Haneen told the BBC: 'Before the war, Ghena was having medical treatment in Gaza, in a specialised hospital. She was getting tests done every six months there and treatment was available.' Haneen said the hospital was destroyed in the first week of Israel's invasion, leaving the family with little choice but to seek help elsewhere. 'She began complaining about the pain,' Haneen said. 'She would wake up screaming in pain at night.' Haneen added: 'I hope she gets better here. In Gaza there are thousands of injured and sick children who need medical treatment. I hope they get a chance like Ghena.' The girls were assisted by Project Pure Hope and the Palestinian Children's Relief Fund, which worked with the World Health Organization to get them to the UK for treatment. PCRF Chairwoman Vivian Khalaf told the BBC: 'We came across these cases through an ongoing list that is getting longer and longer of children who need urgent medical treatment outside of Gaza. 'The current physicians and hospitals that continue to be operating to whatever extent have determined that the treatment isn't available within Gaza.' Khalaf said 200 children from Gaza have so far been taken abroad for medical treatment, including to the US, Jordan, Qatar and European countries. The WHO has condemned the state of Gaza's health system as 'beyond description' after 18 months of conflict that has killed more than 50,980 Palestinians in the enclave, according to its Health Ministry.
BBC News
01-05-2025
- Health
- BBC News
Two Gazan girls first to arrive in UK for medical treatment
Two Palestinian girls with serious health conditions have been brought to the UK for private medical Gazan children are the first to be granted temporary UK visas since the war between Hamas and Israel broke out in October five, and Rama, 12 arrived in the UK from Egypt on Saturday to be treated for conditions which cannot be dealt with in war torn Gaza, Project Pure Hope (PPH) mother said she hoped other children "would get the chance" to benefit from the chance to receive medical care overseas. Both suffer from pre-existing conditions which require specialist treatment not available in Gaza, where the healthcare system has come under huge pressure during the war between Hamas and - who has a lifelong bowel condition - described her life in Khan Younis, where her family home was destroyed, and spoke about her hopes for the told BBC News: "We were so scared. We were living in tents and shrapnel from airstrikes used to fall on us."Mum used to suffer so much going to hospitals while bombs were falling and would stand in long queues just to get me a strip of pills."Here I'll get treatment and get better and be just like any other girl."Her mother Rana said: "I'm very happy for Rama because she'll get treatment here. "As a mother, I felt so sorry in Gaza because I couldn't do anything to help her. "To see your daughter dying in front of your eyes, day by day, watching her weaken and get sicker – it pained me." Ghena has fluid pressing against her optic nerve, which could lead to her losing the sight in her left eye if she does not have an mother Haneen told the BBC: "Before the war, Ghena was having medical treatment in Gaza, in a specialised hospital. "She was getting tests done every six months there and treatment was available."But the hospital was destroyed a week after the war began, she said, and Ghena was no longer able to get the care she needed."She began complaining about the pain," Haneen continued. "She would wake up screaming in pain at night.""I hope she gets better here," Haneen added."In Gaza there are thousands of injured and sick children who need medical treatment. I hope they get a chance like Ghena."PHP and PCRF worked with the World Health Organization (WHO) to secure their temporary stay in the UK and private funding for their chairwoman Vivian Khalaf told the BBC: "We came across these cases through an ongoing list that is getting longer and longer of children who need urgent medical treatment outside of Gaza."The current physicians and hospitals that continue to be operating to whatever extent have determined that the treatment isn't available within Gaza."Khalaf said 200 children had been relocated for medical treatment via the initiative, including to the US, Jordan and Qatar, as well as several European countries. She was unable to say how many children in total had been identified as needing to be moved to the care of international health services in the World Health Organization (WHO) said earlier this month that conditions at Gaza's hospitals - several of which have been damaged during the fighting - are "beyond description".The Israeli military launched a campaign to destroy Hamas in response to an unprecedented cross-border attack on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken than 50,980 people have been killed in Gaza since then, according to the territory's Hamas-run health ministry.
