Israeli authorities have allowed Mazyouna Damoo to leave Gaza so that the 12-year-old girl can receive the medical treatment she needs for the serious injuries she suffered to her face when a missile hit her home last June, after her case emerged in the international press.
Mazyouna’s family has been fighting for months so that the girl can be evacuated to the United States, where a team of surgeons is waiting for her. According to the family, since June five evacuation requests have been rejected, without receiving explanations from the Israeli military body in charge of permits to leave Gaza, COGAT.
COGAT has confirmed its evacuation and explained to Guardian: “Following a thorough evaluation and diagnosis of her medical condition, the girl has been granted approval to leave Gaza accompanied by her mother. Continued coordination with relevant authorities will ensure the continuation of your treatment.”
“COGAT makes every effort to approve the departure of children and their families for medical treatment, subject to security checks carried out by Israeli security authorities before they enter the sovereign territory of Israel,” he added.
Initially, Mazyouna’s mother was not granted permission to travel with her, but now COGAT has allowed her mother and younger sister to go with her. Both suffered injuries during the June attack, in which two of their brothers died. The three left Gaza this morning for Jordan, through the Kerem Shalom border crossing, and will be flown to the United States so that Mazyouna can undergo surgery as soon as possible.
Doctors had warned that Mazyouna’s life was in danger if she did not undergo urgent surgery. There is still shrapnel in his neck, which causes him immense pain every time he moves, and his wound has become infected. He needs specialized maxillofacial surgery and in Gaza they cannot do it.
“Every day I look at my beautiful daughter, who can’t even stand to look in the mirror anymore,” he told Guardian her father, Ahmed Damoo, who has not been allowed to travel with her. “I’m glad my daughter is finally getting the medical treatment she desperately needs, but it breaks my heart not knowing if and when I’ll see my family again.”
medical humanitarian organization FAJR Scientific has tried to evacuate Mazyouna to treat her in the US since June. “Due to the months of delay, their conditions have worsened noticeably,” lamented Mosab Nasser, executive director of FAJR Scientific, who will accompany the family from Jordan to the United States. Nasser has denounced that children in Gaza do not have access to the medical assistance that can save them and, furthermore, they are not allowed to travel to places where they can be cured, and that the Israeli authorities make some exceptions “only when it is too late.”
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