The Israeli authorities have permitted Mazyouna Damoo, a 12-year-old Palestinian girl whose face was “ripped off” when an Israeli missile struck her home in June, to leave Gaza for medical treatment, five days after the Guardian reported that repeated requests for her urgent medical evacuation had been denied.
Last Friday, the Guardian highlighted the Damoo family’s desperate battle to get Mazyouna evacuated from Gaza to the United States to receive emergency surgery on devastating injuries to her face sustained in a missile attack by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), which tore off half of her cheek and exposed her jawbone.
The family said that, since June, five requests for medical evacuation had been refused, with no explanation from the Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories (Cogat), the Israeli military body in Gaza responsible for issuing permits to travel abroad.
Her evacuation was confirmed by Cogat, which told the Guardian: “Following a thorough evaluation and diagnosis of her medical condition, the girl has been granted approval to leave Gaza accompanied by her mother. Ongoing coordination with the relevant authorities will ensure the continuation of her treatment.”
It added: “Cogat makes every effort to approve the departure of children and their families for medical treatment, subject to security checks conducted by Israeli security authorities before they enter Israel’s sovereign territory.”
Doctors had warned that Mazyouna’s life would be in danger if she did not receive urgent surgery. There is still shrapnel in her neck causing her immense pain every time she moves and her wound has become infected. She requires specialised maxillofacial surgery, which is not available in Gaza.
After initially saying that Mazyouna’s mother would not be permitted to travel with her, Cogat has now allowed her mother and younger sister to leave with her. They also sustained injuries during the June attack, which killed two of her other siblings.
The three left Gaza for Jordan this morning via the Kerem Shalom border crossing and will be flown to the US for Mazyouna’s surgery as soon as possible.
Ahmed Damoo, Mazyouna’s father, has been left alone in Gaza, with no prospect of being reunited with his surviving family members.
“I am happy my daughter will finally get the medical treatment she desperately needs,” he said. “But it breaks my heart not knowing when – or if – I will ever see my family again.”
According to the UN children’s aid agency, Unicef, there are an estimated 2,500 children in Gaza in urgent need of medical treatment they cannot receive in the territory, where most health infrastructure has been destroyed over the past 14 months of war. It said children were being evacuated at a rate of fewer than one a day.
FAJR Scientific, a medical aid organisation, has been trying to evacuate Mazyouna for treatment to the US since June. “Due to months of delays, Mazyouna’s condition has deteriorated significantly,” said Mosab Nasser, chief executive officer at FAJR Scientific, who flew to Jordan on Wednesday to accompany the family to the US for treatment.
Nasser said children in Gaza were being denied the medical care that could save them and were then prevented from leaving for places where help awaited them, with the Israeli authorities making exceptions “only when it’s too late”.
He cited the example of four-year-old Elia Younis, who suffered fourth-degree burns and amputations after an Israeli airstrike near her home. Her mother, Eslam, also suffered severe burns and blood infection but was denied medical evacuation and died last month.
“We recently evacuated Elia to Jordan but she now has sepsis and is lying in an ICU in Amman,” said Nasser. “Doctors warn she might not make it – all this could have been avoided if she had just been allowed to evacuate sooner.”
