It’s not just Israel: International inaction letting Gaza’s children die Article by Al-Jazeera

Al-Jazeera has published an article by Gaza-based writer Hassan Abo Qamar, highlighting the human cost of a medical evacuation system failing thousands of Palestinians. Injured children like his cousin Ahmad are trapped in a cycle of pain, malnutrition, and delayed treatment, their lives hanging in the balance as Israel controls crossings and foreign governments hesitate to act. The system meant to save them has become a slow-moving barrier, leaving thousands with urgent medical needs unmet. Caliber.Az presents an abridged version, emphasising the key points from the original report.

Ahmad, a nine-year-old boy from Nuseirat in Gaza, represents the human cost of a medical evacuation system failing thousands. “My cousin Ahmad was nine years old when he suffered a severe head injury in Gaza,” writes Hassan Abo Qamar. A missile struck a neighbouring house, violently throwing Ahmad down a staircase and shattering his skull. His survival was a miracle.

Doctors at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital battled to save his life, and he was later transferred to the European Hospital, where surgeons removed part of his skull to relieve brain pressure. Ahmad spent weeks in intensive care, losing his ability to speak and becoming paralysed on his left side. “He urgently needs reconstructive skull surgery, eye surgery and continuous, intensive physiotherapy,” the article states.

The challenges did not end with surgery. When Israeli shelling brought debris dangerously close to hospitals, Ahmad had to be moved again. Malnutrition, caused by famine in Gaza, further compromised his recovery. “Some days, my aunt Iman, Ahmad’s mother, could not even find a kilo of flour,” the author explains. The artificial bone in Ahmad’s skull began collapsing under the strain of inadequate nutrition.

Education, too, has become a struggle. Despite his mother enrolling him in a tent school, Ahmad cannot write for more than two minutes without unbearable pain. His home-based learning is equally limited: “He must sleep one hour before studying and half an hour after, and even then, he struggles to absorb information.”

Ahmad is not alone. There are 15,600 Palestinians in Gaza needing urgent medical care abroad, yet evacuations have slowed dramatically. The WHO has facilitated more than 7,600 evacuations since October 2023, but only a trickle reach hospitals now. Israeli controls over crossings, coupled with the reluctance of foreign governments to accept patients, create a bottleneck that costs lives. Even approved patients often cannot afford treatment abroad.

The story underscores a wider humanitarian failure. While Israel, as the occupying power, bears responsibility, the global community is failing to act. “Wealthy governments that funded and supported the genocide have looked away. They either accept a few cases or none at all. Their refusal to act, to acknowledge Palestinian children’s suffering, to accept their humanity is yet another sign of their moral bankruptcy,” writes Qamar.

Ahmad’s deteriorating condition — forgetting family members, enduring daily pain, and facing a future of disability — is a stark reminder of the urgent need for coordinated international intervention. Thousands like him remain trapped in a cycle of injury, famine, and neglect, waiting for the world to acknowledge their humanity.