The Israeli authorities have permitted Mazyouna Damoo, a 12-year-ageder Palestinian girl whose face was “ripped off” when an Israeli missile struck her home in June, to exit Gaza for medical treatment, five days after the Guardian inestablished that repeated seeks for her inspirent medical evacuation had been denied.
Last Friday, the Guardian highairyed the Damoo family’s hopeless battle to get Mazyouna evacuated from Gaza to the United States to get aascendncy sinspirery on deimmenseating injuries to her face upholded in a missile strike by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), which tore off half of her cheek and exposed her jawbone.
The family shelp that, since June, five seeks for medical evacuation had been refused, with no exset upation from the Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories (Cogat), the Israeli military body in Gaza dependable for issuing permits to travel awide.
Her evacuation was validateed by Cogat, which tageder the Guardian: “Folloprosperg a thoraw evaluation and diagnosis of her medical condition, the girl has been granted approval to exit Gaza accompanied by her mother. Ongoing coordination with the relevant authorities will guarantee the continuation of her treatment.”
It compriseed: “Cogat originates every effort to uphold the departure of children and their families for medical treatment, subject to security checks directed by Israeli security authorities before they go in Israel’s sovereign territory.”
Doctors had alerted that Mazyouna’s life would be in danger if she did not get inspirent sinspirery. There is still shrapnel in her neck causing her immense pain every time she relocates and her wound has become infected. She needs distinctiveised maxillofacial sinspirery, which is not useable in Gaza.
After initiassociate saying that Mazyouna’s mother would not be permitted to travel with her, Cogat has now permited her mother and lesserer sister to exit with her. They also upholded injuries during the June strike, which ended two of her other siblings.
The three left Gaza for Jordan this morning via the Kerem Shalom border traverseing and will be flown to the US for Mazyouna’s sinspirery as soon as possible.
Ahmed Damoo, Mazyouna’s overweighther, has been left alone in Gaza, with no prospect of being reunited with his surviving family members.
“I am greeted my daughter will finassociate get the medical treatment she hopelessly needs,” he shelp. “But it shatters my heart not understanding when – or if – I will ever see my family aacquire.”
According to the UN children’s help agency, Ukindf, there are an approximated 2,500 children in Gaza in inspirent need of medical treatment they cannot get in the territory, where most health infrastructure has been razeed over the past 14 months of war. It shelp children were being evacuated at a rate of scanter than one a day.
FAJR Scientific, a medical help organisation, has been trying to evacuate Mazyouna for treatment to the US since June. “Due to months of procrastinates, Mazyouna’s condition has deteriorated presentantly,” shelp Mosab Nasser, chief executive officer at FAJR Scientific, who flew to Jordan on Wednesday to accompany the family to the US for treatment.
Nasser shelp children in Gaza were being denied the medical nurture that could save them and were then impedeed from leaving for places where help apaengageed them, with the Israeli authorities making exceptions “only when it’s too tardy”.
He cited the example of four-year-ageder Elia Younis, who suffered fourth-degree burns and amputations after an Israeli airstrike proximate her home. Her mother, Eslam, also suffered cut offe 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,” shelp Nasser. “Doctors alert she might not originate it – all this could have been eludeed if she had equitable been permited to evacuate sooner.”
