GAZA, (PIC)
In a simple displacement tent in the Sheikh Radwan area north of Gaza City, the life of the child Nada Arhouma (fifteen years old) changed within moments due to Israeli shelling, after she was one of the distinguished students in the tenth grade, drawing for herself the features of a calm and ambitious future.
On September 10, 2025, while she was playing with her sisters inside the tent, Nada was injured by a shrapnel as a result of Israeli shelling. That moment posed as a turning point from a life that was full of dreams to a reality burdened with pain.
Complex injury
The injury was harsh and complex; she lost her right eye because of it, and suffered a facial deformity, in addition to complex fractures in the jaws and teeth, which entered her into a difficult treatment journey, amid difficult health conditions and limited capabilities inside the Gaza Strip.
According to her father who spoke to the PIC correspondent, Nada obtained two urgent medical referrals, the first to perform advanced surgery in the jaws and face and a bone graft, and the second for an eye transplant and treatment of deformities, however, the implementation of these interventions requires her travel outside the Strip.
Her father said, with a voice burdened with pain, “My daughter was among the outstanding students in her school, all her concern was to study, pass and make us happy with her, suddenly everything changed in a moment. The shrapnel did not only hit her body; it changed her whole life.”
He added, “From the day of the injury she has not been able to accept her appearance, she sits alone a lot and cries, and sometimes she gets angry at her sisters for no reason, we try to ease her pain and strengthen her, but her situation is very difficult, and every day that passes without treatment makes us fear more for her psychological state.”
The father continued appealing, “I have two official referrals for her treatment, and she needs delicate operations that are not available in Gaza. Our demand is simple: we want our daughter to travel for treatment like other people. There are people who travel and do not have injuries, and my daughter is more deserving of every treatment opportunity.”
Nada’s dream
He concluded his speech with hope mixed with pain, “Nada’s dream today is not big… she just wants to return as she was before, return to her school and live her life. I, as a father, am not able to see her in this condition, and I appeal to every person who has a conscience to help us reach treatment for her before her condition deteriorates further.”
The child’s suffering is not limited to the physical side, as she has been living in a deteriorating psychological state since her injury, in light of the difficulty of accepting the changes that occurred to her appearance and her life, which raises her family’s fears of the worsening of her psychological situation with the continued delay of treatment.
Nada’s story is not an exception in the Gaza Strip, but it is one among hundreds of stories of children pushed by the war to face complex injuries, at a time when the Strip faces great challenges in providing specialized medical care.
The Israeli occupation forces obstruct the travel of more than 21,000 Palestinians in need of treatment outside the enclave through the complex procedures they impose for travel through the Rafah crossing.
