When Zarifa Nawfal’s family arrived in Beirut for her daughter Halima’s surgery, one of the first things she wanted to do was visit the sea. For Zarifa, the Mediterranean was a familiar presence back home in Gaza before the war.
“The moment I smelled the sea, I felt at peace inside as if I were in Gaza,” she said. However, their refuge in Lebanon soon reminded her of home in far more distressing ways.
Halima Abou Yassine, Nawfal’s 7-year-old daughter, was one of a dozen severely wounded Palestinian children brought to Lebanon for medical treatment this year, through a programme initiated by British-Palestinian surgeon Dr. Ghassan Abu Sitta. Yet, just months after their arrival, Lebanon has itself been plunged into conflict, sparking fears that the country may face destruction akin to what Gaza is enduring.
In February, Nawfal and her five children were displaced after airstrikes destroyed their home in northern Gaza. While they were filling water containers outside their apartment in central Gaza, two missiles struck nearby. Halima, the youngest, was found lying in the street with her skull cracked open, her brain exposed.
“I was relieved that her body was in one piece,” Nawfal recalled. “In Gaza, blasts often leave people torn apart, with no body left to bury.”
Halima’s brother was unconscious beside her but soon revived at the hospital. The doctors initially declared Halima dead, placing her small body in the morgue. But as the family prepared to bury her, Halima’s uncle noticed faint signs of life.
Dr. Abu Sitta, who has worked in Gaza’s hospitals, explained that such misidentifications were not uncommon due to the chaotic conditions. “Ambulance teams, under pressure, often rushed bodies to the morgue without following usual protocols,” he said.
In the days that followed, Nawfal manually pumped oxygen into her daughter’s lungs. After a week, Halima began to breathe on her own and eventually regained consciousness. “Some doctors cried,” Nawfal said. “They said it was a miracle.”
But Halima’s skull remained open, a bone shard missing, and her brain was infected. In May, the family was evacuated to Egypt and, in July, they finally arrived in Lebanon for Halima’s much-needed surgery at the American University of Beirut Medical Centre.
The journey to Lebanon had initially seemed like a hopeful one. At the time, Lebanon was already embroiled in a simmering conflict between Israel and Hezbollah. Despite the tension, Dr. Abu Sitta chose Lebanon for treatment due to its medical expertise in war injuries, honed through years of experience with regional conflicts, including the Lebanese Civil War and the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah war.
Halima’s surgery was a success, and her recovery in Beirut was promising. She played with other Gaza children in the hotel pool, swam, and coloured, with her scar discreetly hidden beneath a straw hat. But in mid-September, as Israel launched airstrikes against Hezbollah, the situation in Lebanon escalated.
The children quickly fell back into old wartime habits. “We cracked open the balcony’s sliding glass doors to prevent the glass from shattering from the blast pressure,” Nawfal said. “We began sleeping in the central room, away from windows.”
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Despite some offers to evacuate the family, Nawfal refused. “Lebanon isn’t just another Arab country; it is a sister to Gaza. We live or die together,” she declared.
Adam Afana, another child from Gaza undergoing treatment, expressed similar concerns. “The escalation in Lebanon reminds us of the beginning of the war in Gaza,” he said. “The airstrikes frightened Adam. It felt like the war was following us.”
By October 2023, Lebanon’s own conflict had intensified. The Ghassan Abu Sitta Fund, which facilitates medical care for wounded Palestinian children, paused the intake of new patients due to the worsening security situation. But treatment continues for those already in Lebanon, with ongoing surgeries and physiotherapy. Adam, who had nearly lost his arm in an explosion, has undergone several procedures to remove infection and treat nerve damage. Yet, his final surgery is delayed due to the rising conflict.
Dr. Abu Sitta originally hoped to treat up to 50 children at any time, but due to the ongoing war in Lebanon, his team is now focused on providing care to Lebanese children. Despite the efforts, the number of wounded Lebanese children remains small compared to the devastation in Gaza, where more than 13,000 children have died, and thousands more are injured.
The tragedy is clear: as in Gaza, Lebanon’s children are paying the heaviest toll. “All wars are waged on children,” said Dr. Abu Sitta, highlighting the shared suffering of the region’s youngest victims.
