UK urged to admit 11 Gaza children hurt in the war for urgent treatment
Kareem saw the tanks and yelled. His mother and sister ran outside to find him, and then the tank fired.
The pain was so excruciating that Kareem begged the doctors to amputate his leg.
Because of the war, they had to do it without an anaesthetic. His screams were so loud that people on the floor above thought someone was giving birth.
“My husband, daughter, Kareem and I were all injured,” explains his mother.
Kareem has had infections in his bones and now weighs only 4st
Kareem’s doctor says he could die if he isn’t taken abroad for treatment
“My husband lost his eyesight and is currently awaiting treatment. His intestines are damaged. Kareem underwent surgery on the upper part of his body.
“The flesh around his leg is completely gone, leaving only the bone. Meanwhile, I have splinters in my eye.”
The 14-year-old boy, who was top of his class and dreamt of owning his own bike, now thinks he will never ride one again.
Kareem is suffering massive weight loss and is now only 26kg (4st 1lb), unable to move far and has had infections in his bones.
“Kareem reached a state of despair; he lacked the energy to engage in conversation,” says his mother.
“Every time I tried to talk to him, he would lash out at me. When the crossings closed, his dreams were shattered.
“Even the faint glimmer of hope we had was gone. We were left with nothing.”
Kareem’s mother says he reached a ‘state of despair’ after his awful injuries
“His condition is deteriorating every day,” says his doctor, Saeed.
“He is at risk of losing his life due to the scarcity of medical supplies and the many difficulties we face as a medical team in this department.
“We cannot adequately treat these cases here. This patient needs to be transferred out of Gaza.”
Kareem is being treated in hospitals suffering a chronic shortages of medical supplies
Two British charities, Project Pure Hope and Save A Child, have written to the UK foreign and home secretaries asking them to give approval for Kareem and 10 other children to travel to the UK for specialist treatment.
The charities have experience taking other children for care outside Gaza.
“If they are able to enter the United Kingdom for a finite period in order to receive the treatments needed, it is our assessment that their prospects of surviving in the first instance, and securing a good quality of life, will be materially enhanced,” the letter says.
Money for their travel and medical costs has already been raised.
Their stay in Britain would only be temporary, for the course of their treatment – it just needs the British government to sign it off, but they have not done so.
Other European countries, including France, Italy and Switzerland, have accepted children from Gaza for medical care.
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Read more from Sky News:
Teen from video on how she escaped Gaza after amputation
British-Israeli hostage among four who died in Hamas captivity
“We are assured that, once again, the UK has the expertise and centres to effectively treat and manage these children’s injuries, and that these are not available immediately in the local region,” continues the letter to Lord Cameron and James Cleverly.
‘She wakes up screaming’
Two-year-old Zeina is also on the evacuation list. She was injured in a fire after an airstrike on the camp she was living in.
More than a fifth of her small body is covered in second and third-degree burns.
Her thighs, the palms of her hands, her chest, back, neck, face and forehead are all burnt.
“One day, at approximately 2.30pm I went to get bread,” says her father Noor.
“When I came back, my wife was wailing and screaming that Zeina was injured. I asked her what happened, and she told me that there was a strike on the refugee camp while she was cooking, and Zeina started running around and fell into the fire.”
Zeina’s had 16 operations in just two months, on average one every three or four days. It’s amazing she survived.
These children are not just suffering physical pain, they are experiencing deep trauma too. There is no escape for them.
“Her pain keeps getting worse, and sometimes she wakes up screaming at night,” Noor says.
Zeina’s father says she is traumatised and her pain is getting worse
“Whenever she sees someone in a medical uniform, she panics and starts screaming. She is always afraid, and sometimes she can’t control her urine.
“This wasn’t a problem before her injury; it only started after the surgeries.
“It has gotten so bad that she sometimes wets herself out of fear,” says her father. “She only feels safe with her mother and me; it is as though she is dealing with trauma now.”
The hospitals, so damaged by the fighting, cannot give the children the treatment they need. Asleep or awake, they are haunted by the pain of their injuries and sounds of war.
They have a small chance of recovery: Britain. If only they could go there.
They rose to their feet in ecstatic surprise, shouting “heydar, heydar” – a Shia victory chant.
This was the first public appearance of their supreme leader since Israel began attacking their country.
He emerged during evening prayers in his private compound. He said nothing but looked stern and resolute as he waved to the crowd.
He has spent the last weeks sequestered in a bunker, it is assumed, for his safety following numerous death threats from Israel and the US.
His re-emergence suggests a return to normality and a sense of defiance that we have witnessed here on the streets of Tehran too.
Earlier, we had filmed as men in black marched through the streets of the capital to the sound of mournful chants and the slow beat of drums, whipping their backs with metal flails.
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Defiance on streets of Tehran
This weekend they mark the Shia festival of Ashura as they have for 14 centuries. But this year has poignant significance for Iranians far more than most.
The devout remember the betrayal and death of Imam Hussein as if it happened yesterday. We filmed men and women weeping as they worshipped at the Imamzadeh Saleh Shrine in northern Tehran.
The armies of the Caliph Yazid killed the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad in the seventh-century Battle of Karbala.
Shiite Muslims mark the anniversary every year and reflect on the virtue it celebrates, of resistance against oppression and injustice.
But more so than ever in the wake of Israel and America’s attacks on their country.
The story is one of prevailing over adversity and deception. A sense of betrayal is keenly felt here among people and officials.
Listen to The World with Richard Engel and Yalda Hakim every Wednesday
Many Iranians believe they were lured into pursuing diplomacy as part of a ruse by the US.
Iran believed it was making diplomatic progress in talks with America it hoped could lead to a deal. Then Israel launched its attacks and, instead of condemning them, the US joined in.
Death to Israel chants resounded outside the mosque in skies which were filled for 12 days with the sounds of Israeli jets. There is a renewed sense of defiance here.
One man told us: “The lesson to be learned from Hussein is not to give in to oppression even if it is the most powerful force in the world.”
A woman was dismissive about the US president. “I don’t think about Trump, nobody likes him. He always wants to attack too many countries.”
Pictures on billboards nearby draw a line between Imam Hussein’s story and current events. The seventh-century imam on horseback alongside images of modern missiles and drones from the present day.
Other huge signs remember the dead. Iran says almost 1,000 people were killed in the strikes, many of them women and children.
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Officially Iran is projecting defiance but not closing the door to diplomacy.
Government spokeswoman Dr Fatemeh Mohajerani told Sky News that Israel should not even think about attacking again.
“We are very strong in defence and as state officials have announced, this time Israel will receive an even stronger response compared to previous times,” she said.
“We hope that Israel will not make such a mistake.”
But there is also a hint of conciliation: Senior Iranian officials have told Sky News that back-channel efforts are under way to explore new talks with the US.
Israel had hoped its attacks could topple the Iranian leadership. That proved unfounded, the government is in control here.
For many Iranians, it seems quite the opposite happened – the 12-day war has brought them closer together.
To the sound of mournful chants and the slow beat of drums, they march, whipping their backs with metal flails.
It is an ancient ceremony going back almost 14 centuries – the Shia commemoration of Ashura.
But this year in particular has poignant significance for Iranians.
The devout remember the betrayal and death of the Imam Hussein as if it happened yesterday.
Iranians gather ahead of Ashura
We filmed men and women weep as they worshipped at the Imamzadeh Saleh Shrine in northern Tehran.
The grandson of the Prophet Muhammad was killed by the armies of the Caliph Yazid in the seventh century Battle of Karbala.
Shia Muslims mark the anniversary every year and reflect on the virtue it celebrates – of resistance against oppression and injustice. But more so than ever this year, in the wake of Israel and America’s attacks on their country.
The story is one of prevailing over adversity and deception. A sense of betrayal is keenly felt here by people and officials.
Men and women weeped as they worshipped at the Imamzadeh Saleh Shrine
Many Iranians believe they were lured into pursuing diplomacy as part of a ruse by the US.
Iran believed it was making diplomatic progress in talks with America, which it hoped could lead to a deal. Then Israel launched its attacks and, instead of condemning them, the US joined in.
“Death to Israel” chants resounded outside the mosque in skies that for 12 days were filled with the sounds of Israeli jets.
There is a renewed sense of defiance here.
One man told us: “The lesson to be learned from Hussein is not to give in to oppression, even if it is the most powerful force in the world.”
‘I don’t think about Trump. Nobody likes him,’ one woman tells Sky News
A woman was dismissive about the US president.
“I don’t think about Trump. Nobody likes him. He always wants to attack too many countries.”
Pictures on billboards nearby link Imam Hussein’s story and current events. They show the seventh century imam on horseback alongside images of modern missiles and drones from the present day.
Other huge signs remember the dead. Iran says almost 1,000 people were killed in the strikes, many of them women and children.
Officially Iran is projecting defiance, but not closing the door to diplomacy.
Government spokeswoman Dr Fatemeh Mohajerani told Sky News that Israel should not even think about attacking again.
“We are very strong in defence, and as state officials have announced, this time Israel will receive an even stronger response compared to previous times. We hope that Israel will not make such a mistake.”
Dr Fatemeh Mohajerani said it would be a mistake for Israel to attack again
But there is also a hint of conciliation. Senior Iranian officials have told Sky News back-channel efforts are under way to explore new talks with the US.
Israel had hoped its attacks could topple the Iranian leadership. Those hopes proved unfounded. The government is in control here.
For many Iranians it seems quite the opposite happened – the 12-day war has brought them closer together.
World
Two security workers injured after grenades thrown at aid site, Gaza Humanitarian Foundation says
Two American security workers in Gaza were injured after grenades were thrown during food distribution in Khan Younis, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) has said.
In a statement, the US and Israeli-backed aid group said a targeted terrorist attack was carried out at one of its sites in southern Gaza on Saturday morning.
The two Americans injured “are receiving medical treatment and are in stable condition,” it said, adding that the delivery of aid was “otherwise successful” and that “no local aid workers or civilians were harmed”.
GHF didn’t say exactly when the incident happened but claimed Hamas was behind the attack, adding: “GHF has repeatedly warned of credible threats from Hamas, including explicit plans to target American personnel, Palestinian aid workers, and the civilians who rely on our sites for food.
“Today’s attack tragically affirms those warnings.”
Later, the aid group posted a picture on social media, which it said showed “fragments of a grenade packed with ball bearings” that was used in the attack.
Asked by Sky’s US partner network, NBC News, whether the two injured individuals were responsible for handing out aid or were responsible for providing security, GHF said they were “American security workers” and “two American veterans.”
The aid group did not provide specific evidence that Hamas was behind the attack.
The US and Israeli-backed group has been primarily responsible for aid distribution since Israel lifted its 11-week blockade of the Gaza Strip in May.
Read more:
Hamas gives ‘positive’ response to ceasefire proposal
Outcry as Israeli strike hits school
94 killed in Israeli strikes in Gaza, health staff say
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It comes after Sky News analysis showed GHF aid distributions are associated with a significant increase in deaths in Gaza.
According to Gaza’s health ministry, 600 Palestinians have been killed while seeking aid from GHF sites as of 3 July, which charities and the UN have branded “death traps”.
Meanwhile, the Associated Press has reported that Israeli-backed American contractors guarding GHF aid centres in Gaza are using live ammunition and stun grenades.
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Contractors allege colleagues ‘fired on Palestinians’
GHF has vehemently denied the accusations, adding that it investigated AP’s allegations and found them to be “categorically false”.
Israel’s military added that it fires only warning shots and is investigating reports of civilian harm.
It denies deliberately shooting at any innocent civilians and says it’s examining how to reduce “friction with the population” in the areas surrounding the distribution centres.
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