4:08 p.m. ET, March 15, 2024
Palestinian father in southern Gaza says his sick and starving child "has become like a skeleton"
From CNN’s Ibrahim Dahman and Sana Noor Haq
Left: Hassan is pictured in a Gaza City wedding hall in August 2023. Right: Hassan at the European Hospital in Khan Younis, Gaza, on March 12.
Courtesy Muhammad Hassan Abu Watfa
Muhammad Hassan Abu Watfa, 30, prays that his little son, Hassan, will live through the war in Gaza. But as a parent, he is helpless.
The father and son, displaced in the European Hospital in the southern city of Khan Younis, have survived Israeli air strikes, besiegement and forced displacement from Gaza City in northern Gaza.
Drug shortages mean Hassan has been unable to access critical medication to treat his immunodeficiency disease for more than five months. “Since the beginning of the war, my son has not taken this injection, and his condition is very difficult. His body is thin, and his health is declining for the worse,” Watfa told CNN.
Muhammad Hassan Abu Watfa in Khan Younis, Gaza, last month. He was severely wounded by a strike while trying to buy bread in the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood, in northern Gaza, on October 16. His right foot was amputated twice.
Courtesy Muhammad Hassan Abu Watfa
Israel’s military campaign since the Hamas-led October 7 attacks has crushed the Gazan medical system and drastically diminished critical supplies, exposing the entire population of more than 2.2 million people to severe malnutrition, dehydration and disease.
At least 27 Palestinians have starved to death in Gaza, including newborn babies, pediatric doctors
told CNN.
“He has become like a skeleton. His health condition is very bad. I do not know what to do,” added Watfa. “Please, help my son get out of Gaza for treatment. I don’t care about my own injuries. My son should be the priority to receive treatment. I do not want to lose him.”