Orphaned by Israel, two child amputees find each other in Lebanon

Beirut, Lebanon – They wait, smiling mischievously, their eyes agleam astatine the show of 2 wrapped Spider-Man notebooks.

Ali, the bolder of the 2 contempt being lone 3 years old, tears his unfastened astatine once.

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Six-year-old Omar fumbles, one-handed, with the plastic, his cheeks reddening with embarrassment. Without hesitation, Ali reaches across, peels it unfastened and sets the notebook backmost successful Omar’s lap.

Soon Omar volition person a prosthetic limb similar Ali, and the tiny rituals of childhood, similar opening a present, volition beryllium imaginable again.

The boys are not brothers, though they unrecorded arsenic if they were.

In Hamra, a bustling territory of Beirut wherever postulation clogs the streets and the Mediterranean glimmers beyond the hotels, they stock the aforesaid flat artifact and the aforesaid wounds.

Both were pulled from the rubble. Both were the lone survivors of their families, and some had their hands torn disconnected by an Israeli bomb.

Once separated by hundreds of miles, Omar Abu Kuwaik from Gaza, and Ali Khalife from confederate Lebanon, are casualties of Israel’s warfare connected children.

They unrecorded nether the attraction of their aunts. Maha, who brought Omar retired of Gaza, was forced to permission her ain teenage children behind.

Omar, left, and Ali person go precise adjacent successful the clip they’ve spent unneurotic astatine the Ghassan Abu Sittah Children’s Fund accommodation, successful Beirut, Lebanon [Caolán Magee/Al Jazeera]

And Sobhiye, who ne'er had children of her own, vowed to rise Ali aft the remainder of her household was killed.

Omar and Ali present telephone their aunties Mama.

“The memories of earlier are excessively painful,” Maha said. “They conscionable privation to forget.”

‘Ali asks if his parents tin inactive spot him’

The Khalife household location successful Sarafand, successful confederate Lebanon, was a three-storey location that erstwhile bustled with children.

“We utilized to spell for crystal pick and meals, bent retired during the day,” Sobhiye recalled.

“That greeting felt calm,” she said, describing waking up and going retired aboriginal connected October 29, 2024. By 8:15am, an Israeli ammunition struck suddenly. She was driving adjacent capable to consciousness it.

Rescuers worked done the day, digging done factual and steel. The motortruck carrying instrumentality shuttled backmost and forth, but nary signs of beingness emerged arsenic acheronian fell.

Fourteen hours aft the shelling, they recovered two-year-old Ali nether 2 storeys of debris, his tiny assemblage withered, his manus severed, his enactment shallow but inactive present.
He laic unconscious for a week, kept live by oxygen. Sobhiye was washing the bodies of the dormant erstwhile she learned helium had survived.

When helium opened his eyes astatine last, helium reached for his parents, but they had been killed, on with 13 different members of his family.

Ali with his older sister Nour, who was 5 erstwhile she was killed by Israel successful an airstrike connected their location successful Sarafand, Lebanon [Courtesy of Sobhiye Khalife]

“He asked maine if his parents tin inactive spot him,” she recalled. “I told him they ticker you each the time. They volition ever spot you, but you can’t spot them.”

Ali fidgets with his prosthetic arm. The laughter from the morning’s gifts has gone, replaced by a restlessness that sits successful the room. He calls for “Mama” betwixt his aunt’s sentences, tugging astatine her sleeve, trying to gully her gaze.

When she doesn’t look up, his dependable rises into a cry. “He has a beardown personality,” his auntie says, half-smiling. “The doc says that’s what kept him alive.”

That month, Israel’s warfare with Hezbollah had escalated from cross-border rocket occurrence into afloat bombardment by Israel of Lebanon’s southbound and capital.

By the clip a ceasefire was reached, Israel had killed much than 4,000 radical and wounded astir 17,000. This includes astatine slightest 240 children killed, with astatine slightest 700 much injured. Despite the truce, Israeli occurrence has continued to transverse the border.

Omar was the lone survivor

Dr Ghassan Abu Sittah, a Palestinian British surgeon, treated Ali successful Lebanon and helped unafraid his attraction done the Ghassan Abu Sittah Children’s Fund, the foundation helium founded.
The money has cared for astir 180 children, 19 Palestinians from Gaza, and 158 Lebanese, each scarred by Israel’s bombs. Some mislaid limbs, others unrecorded with burns, encephalon trauma, oregon the scars of sniper fire, vessel shells and artillery blasts.

Six-year-old Omar Abu Kuwaik from Gaza received incomplete attraction successful the United States and present has to beryllium fitted with a prosthetic limb each implicit again, successful Beirut, Lebanon [Caolán Magee/Al Jazeera]

Some are orphans, others person relatives inactive successful Gaza oregon Lebanon’s south. All are fixed housing, aesculapian attraction and intelligence support, often aft surviving the Rafah crossing into Egypt with a household member.

Omar is 1 of the 19 Palestinian children helped by the fund.

“Ten days aft the warfare started, we were told to evacuate the building,” Maha recalled. “Omar went to his mum’s family’s location successful az-Zahra, 15 minutes from wherever I was staying.”

On the greeting of December 6, 2023, the archetypal rocket struck. Maha heard it from her home. “You perceive these sounds a batch due to the fact that the bombings are very, precise loud,” she said. “But this clip was different.”

The Kuwaik location was 4 floors. “His household were eating meal connected 1 broadside of the house, and Amar was extracurricular riding his bicycle. So erstwhile the weaponry hit, helium flew – that’s erstwhile his manus was injured.”

When rescuers reached the rubble, lone 1 kid remained alive. “There were 15 radical successful the building,” Maha said. “Omar was the lone survivor.”

Now helium sits softly successful the corner. Ali has gone retired with his aunt, and Omar watches the abstraction wherever his person was. The country feels emptier without his presence. Maha speaks softly, arsenic if her words mightiness aftermath thing fragile.

Omar with his older sister, Yasmin, who was six erstwhile she was killed by Israel successful an airstrike that killed 14 different members of the household successful Gaza [Courtesy of Maha Abu Kuwaik]

She explains however she got him onto a aesculapian evacuation database and they crossed Rafah into an Egyptian hospital, wherever she was capable to use for him to spell to the United States for country and a prosthetic.

But his attraction wasn’t completed successful the US, and they were returned to Egypt without a due fitting oregon physiotherapy. Then, Maha learned astir the Ghassan Abu Sittah money and was capable to use for Omar’s attraction to beryllium completed, arsenic helium needed a full caller prosthetic and the therapy to let him to usage it.

She had near her 3 teenage children down successful Gaza to support him alive.

At the notation of the doctor’s name, Omar’s look lights up. It is due to the fact that of Dr Abu Sittah, Omar volition soon person his caller arm.

The ‘genocidal machine’s’ attacks connected healthcare

Abu-Sittah has spent astir of his beingness moving successful and retired of Palestine.

He archetypal entered Gaza successful 1989 arsenic a young aesculapian pupil during the archetypal Intifada. He returned during the 2nd Intifada, past again successful 2008–2009, 2012, 2014, and during the Great March of Return successful 2018.

When Israel’s battle connected Gaza began successful October 2023, Abu-Sittah crossed the borderline erstwhile more.

Seven-year-old Aya Abdel Karim Sumad is different kid amputee from Gaza. Her limb was torn disconnected by an Israeli vessel ammunition that deed her bedroom, wherever she was hiding with her babe sister nether a blanket. In Beirut, Lebanon [Caolán Magee/Al Jazeera]

At al-Shifa Hospital with Doctors Without Borders (MSF), and aboriginal astatine al-Ahli, helium operated for 45 days straight, stitching unneurotic children, women and men torn isolated by Israeli artillery and aerial strikes – each portion nether bombardment himself.

Barred present by Israel from re-entering Gaza, helium travelled to The Hague, wherever helium gave grounds to the International Criminal Court. Investigators aboriginal recovered a plausible lawsuit for genocide against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his defence minister, Yoav Gallant.

In December 2023, helium established the money successful Beirut to attraction for Palestinian and Lebanese children. Working with NGOs and doctors connected the ground, the money identifies the worst cases, brings children to Beirut for country astatine the American University of Beirut Medical Center, and houses them with their household members successful apartments portion they recover. Families are offered a year’s accommodation, on with societal payment and intelligence care, earlier returning home.

“When children are wounded successful war, it is not conscionable their bodies,” Abu Sittah said. “They are emotionally wounded, socially wounded, existentially wounded. Their full presumption of the satellite is altered. They volition request attraction for the remainder of their lives.”

In Lebanon, helium explained, the astir communal wounded is traumatic encephalon injury. In Gaza, it’s amputations. “Children who mightiness person kept their limbs with due country are alternatively near without them.”

Of Gaza’s 5 cardiologists, lone 2 remain, says Abu Sittah. The kidney specialists are gone, and each board-certified exigency doc has been killed.

Of each the healthcare facilities successful the enclave, 94 percent person been damaged oregon destroyed by Israel. The World Health Organization (WHO) has documented astatine slightest 735 attacks connected wellness infrastructure betwixt October 2023 and June 2025.

“It’s portion of making Gaza uninhabitable,” Abu Sittah said. “It makes the genocidal instrumentality much resilient.”

The money present hopes to evacuate 30 much Palestinian children from Gaza with the assistance of the WHO.

“We cognize who the children are,” helium says. “We are getting them passports … They had nary documentation, arsenic immoderate person lived their full lives nether bombardment.”

But Israel blocks their passage, helium added, leaving 30 wounded children successful request of life-saving care. In total, 15,600 patients, including 3,800 children, are waiting for aesculapian evacuation from Gaza to person lifesaving attraction extracurricular of Gaza, according to the WHO.

“Children are perfectly being targeted,” Abu Sittah said. “Everything is simply a target: children, buildings, healthcare, journalists. Everything.”

Waking up screaming

Ali returns to the room, tiny and busy, unbothered by the adults talking. The boys drawback each other’s eyes and smile, arsenic if sharing a concealed gag lone they understand.

Three-year-old Ali Khalife from confederate Lebanon. In Beirut, Lebanon has had his prosthetic limb fitted and is learning to usage it [Caolán Magee/Al Jazeera]

Omar’s aunt Maha recalls the nights erstwhile helium could not sleep. “He would slumber 2 hours, past aftermath up screaming. He was frightened to sleep. He thought helium would ne'er aftermath up.”

She would effort to amusement him photographs of his parents, but helium turned away. Ali inactive calls retired for his parents, adds Sobhiye.

The women, carrying the value of some grief and guardianship, admit they conflict to find the words to support the children steady.

Maha’s hubby and 3 teenage children stay successful Rafah, displaced successful a campy by the sea. With Israel striking areas it claims are “safe zones”, Maha knows she whitethorn ne'er spot them again.

The boys, bored present by big sorrow, instrumentality to their notebooks. Ali traces implicit the Spider-Man fig successful his notepad.

Omar is opening to slumber amended present successful Beirut, Maha says, but helium inactive dreams of a past that nary longer exists.

In his caller notepad, Omar sketches the Gaza of his memory: olive trees, butterflies and the birds that erstwhile rested successful his garden.

“He hopes to spell backmost 1 day,” Maha says. “To his nursery, his friends – arsenic if thing ever happened.

“As if the warfare had not taken everything.”