Three Palestinian children from Gaza who arrived at Boston’s Logan Airport on Sunday to receive medical care in the United States were greeted with cheers by a small group of supporters.
The children smiled as they arrived to applause and the lights of television news cameras.
The girls are with a group of 11 Palestinian children who came to the U.S. this week according to the Ohio-based nonprofit HEAL Palestine, which is sponsoring them.
Fourteen-year old Rahaf Aldalou suffered severe burns and shrapnel wounds in an Israeli airstrike that killed her mother and three siblings while they were sheltering in a hospital. She flew to Logan with her aunt to receive care locally, according to representatives from the nonprofit.
12-year-old Rahaf Abuawwad lives with chronic health conditions that have worsened due to the collapse of Gaza’s healthcare system. She will travel on to Ohio to continue her care.
The third girl, Seba Abuabeda, who is also 12 and a double amputee, will travel on to Seattle for treatment.
Sondos Jaber is a social worker with HEAL Palestine and said it was “extremely difficult” to bring the children to the U.S.
“The cases we have here, we’ve probably started working on them since January if not before,” Jaber said. “And then we have so many different steps that we have to do and so many different approvals and different embassies and consulates so we can get them here.”
Over a dozen people gathered to show support to the children as they arrived. Some wore keffiyehs, others held Palestinian flags and others held up signs showing welcoming the arrivals.
Sean Flaherty, who was there to show support, expressed frustration that the children had to travel to the U.S. to receive care in the first place, citing the damage to Gaza’s healthcare infrastructure and restrictions on distributing aid.
“I think it’s a huge failure that they have to come here at all, but I am very happy that they have an opportunity to receive care here,” Flaherty said.
Jaber said most of the children HEAL Palestine works with are amputees or double amputees.
Nora Khalil, a volunteer with the organization, pointed out that one of the big problems being faced in Gaza is malnutrition.
Malnutrition has reached an alarming and dangerous level in Gaza, marked by a spike in deaths in July, according to the World Health Organization. Of 74 malnutrition deaths documented by WHO this year, 63 occurred in July, including 24 children under five years old.
The Gaza Health Ministry says Palestinians have also been killed while attempting to reach aid sites. At least 325 people were killed by Israeli forces while trying to access food in the last week, according to the ministry.
Khalil said that the group utilizes every resource they have to make the evacuations possible.
“We could not say that they would be evacuated until they left Gaza because changes happen at every moment,” Khalil said. “They’ve had a lot of evacuees not evacuate and as a result sustain more injuries or be killed. And so we are very fortunate that they were able to make this happen.”
