The Electronic Intifada 7 June 2024
Nabil Kuhail was recently diagnosed with leukemia. (Photo courtesy of family)
A 5-year-old child has died after Israel caused delays to his medical treatment.
Nabil Kuhail was diagnosed with leukemia in April. The cancer was at an advanced stage when it was detected.
“It was like a nightmare,” his mother Aya said.
“I could not believe that my son had leukemia. But I never imagined that he would die.”
Aya and her family were uprooted from their home in Tel al-Hawa, a Gaza City neighborhood, due to Israel’s intense violence against the surrounding area in the first few months of the current war.
After Israel invaded al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City during November, the family fled southwards.
“The displacement journey was terrifying,” Aya said.
“The Israeli soldiers were pointing their weapons at us as we walked and corpses were filling the streets. The Israeli army ordered us not to look right or left.”
The family eventually made it to Rafah, Gaza’s southernmost city, where some of their relatives provided them with shelter.
A large number of other displaced people were staying in the same house. After some time, Aya and the family left that house and moved into a tent.
“Terrified”
While living in the tent, Nabil was bitten by a mosquito and had an allergic reaction.
That prompted his mother to have Nabil’s health checked out. Following blood tests, it was discovered that he had leukemia.
Initially, Nabil was treated at the European Gaza Hospital near Khan Younis, another southern Gaza city. Aya stayed with him for a couple of weeks there.
That meant she had to be away from her husband and their other child, who is still an infant. “I felt terrified for them because the bombing was constant,” Aya said.
Nabil was given an urgent medical referral for treatment in Egypt.
He was supposed to leave Gaza via the Rafah crossing on 7 May.
A matter of hours before the journey was scheduled to take place, Israeli troops invaded the area around the Rafah crossing, preventing all travel through it.
Because of the Rafah invasion, the family fled to Deir al-Balah in central Gaza.
Aya brought Nabil to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in that city. Under major strain and overcrowded with displaced and wounded people, it did not have the medications Nabil required.
As Nabil’s health worsened, Aya appealed for help from human rights groups and media outlets. On 28 May, she received news that he could be treated in a Jerusalem hospital.
To get there, they had to leave Gaza via the Israeli-controlled Kerem Shalom crossing.
Aya – who is pregnant – feared that the ambulance bringing them to the crossing would be targeted by Israel. But they managed to make it through the crossing.
Nabil was given chemotherapy in Jerusalem. Following the first session, he had convulsions and his heart stopped.
His mother blames Israel for his death. Doctors informed her that he picked up infections as a result of the unhygienic conditions in which they were forced to live over recent months.
“My son was very beautiful,” Aya said. “He loved to play and go on car rides with his father.”
“Israel killed him,” she added. “What did he do wrong?”
Aseel Mousa is a journalist from Gaza.
