04-08-2025
Mothers and injured children evacuate Gaza, arrive in Texas for critical medical care amid war chaos
With the ongoing war, Gaza is one of the most difficult places in the world to get in or out of, but two Palestinian mothers and their young, injured sons are fortunate to be on Texas soil Sunday night.
They are evacuees from Gaza who arrived at DFW Airport this afternoon in front of a large crowd of well-wishers.
There were Palestinian flags and welcoming signs carried by dozens of people who wrapped around the doors for DFW Airport's international arrivals when two families walked through to cheers and chants.
"She said the first feeling she got was a feeling of safety," said Nisreen Hajaj, with HEAL Palestine, who translated.
It's a journey that got the young mother out of harm's way in Gaza as well as another, whose translator says she had to leave other children behind and has lost an extraordinary number of relatives since the war began.
The two injured boys are in Texas to receive treatment that would be impossible back home.
Anwar is 14 years old and on crutches after losing part of a leg while fleeing an air strike.
Zuhair is 6 years old and has severe injuries from a bomb that his mother says destroyed their family's home.
"He has an injury to his hand and unfortunately, an injury to his abdomen as well," said Hajaj.
These two children are among 11 who arrived at airports on Sunday across the U.S. with no date set to return.
From DFW, it's off to San Antonio for these mothers, where they will stay with host families while their children receive free medical treatment through the organization HEAL Palestine.
"We are sitting by TV screens all day watching this unfold in front of her eyes, feeling helpless of not being able to do anything to stop the war," said Hajaj. "This is the message that we want to get across that this is not these children's fault."
The organization has helped 30 injured children since the beginning of the war to get the help they need here in America.
In some cases, like Anwar's, it may be prosthetics, or even further amputations. A young boy, who's been through so much, but still managed a smile on his way, hopefully to a better life.
