Four-year-old Palestinian girl Julia Abu Zaiter, who suffers from a rare genetic disorder, now has hope of ending her prolonged suffering due to a lack of treatment amid the ongoing war and displacement in Gaza. She was recently transferred from the territory to receive treatment at a floating hospital operated by the UAE. According to a report from CNN, Julia has been affected by a condition that strikes one in a million people amid the ongoing war that has been raging for nine months in the devastated region. After a strenuous journey, she was finally evacuated from the war-torn area on June 27, to the Egyptian city of Al-Arish accompanied by her 21-year-old aunt, Doreen Zaiter.
Julia's ordeal reflects the plight of thousands of other children in Gaza who have been injured or fallen ill but are unable to leave the territory to receive the urgent medical care they need. Julia's aunt stated, "The displacement was really difficult, and the events in Gaza are extremely hard. What Julia witnessed was incredibly harsh." CNN met with Julia and Doreen aboard the floating hospital where they stayed for a week after leaving Gaza through the Kerem Shalom crossing in the south. They were among about ten patients who left the floating hospital to continue their treatment in the UAE capital, Abu Dhabi. Most of these patients are children, including two suffering from leukemia.
The hospital is located off the coast of Al-Arish, about 40 kilometers from Rafah, a city at the extreme southern end of the Gaza Strip that has been devastated since Israel launched its ground operation there last May. The city is also home to the Rafah border crossing with Egypt, an essential land bridge through which two-thirds of the aid entering Gaza passes. The crossing has been closed since Israeli forces took control of it.
The UAE floating hospital, which has 100 beds, has treated 2,400 Palestinian injured since February, according to hospital director Dr. Ahmed Mubarak. Mubarak stated that Julia is "an invisible victim of the war," having been trapped in what Medecins Sans Frontieres described as "silent killings in Gaza, due to deliberate deprivation." The head of emergency programs for the organization, Mary Carmen Penel, noted in May that "the blockade, delays, and restrictions imposed by Israel on humanitarian aid and essential medical supplies" have made it impossible to deliver assistance.
Julia and Doreen are among countless Palestinians who have been displaced due to the war launched by Israel in Gaza on October 7, which has so far killed over 38,000 civilians, with most of the population now displaced and in dire need of humanitarian aid.
