GAZA, (PIC)
The Palestinian mother Ghadir Hajila monitors the features of gradual recovery on the face of her child Muhammad, who is three years old, after he sustained burns and deformities from an Israeli raid that targeted a shelter center for displaced people in Gaza City in the middle of last year, within the ongoing Israeli war on the Strip since October 2023.
In the physiotherapy department of Doctors Without Borders in Gaza City, the child Muhammad undergoes treatment sessions using medical masks manufactured with 3D printing technology, in an attempt to alleviate the effects of the burns and deformities that affected his face.
The child had suffered second-degree burns following an Israeli raid that targeted Mustafa Hafez School, which shelters displaced people in Al-Rimal neighborhood in Gaza City in July 2025, which at the time resulted in martyrs and wounded, in one of the massacres that targeted shelter centers during the war.
His mother says that the features of improvement have become clear compared to the first weeks after the injury, with the deformities gradually receding thanks to the treatment, but she expresses her fear of the treatment program stopping due to the lack of necessary raw materials, in light of the Israeli restrictions imposed on the entry of medical supplies, despite the ceasefire agreement that entered into force in October 2025.
Despite the agreement, Israel continues to bomb separate areas of the Gaza Strip and impose strict restrictions on the entry of food, medicine, shelter materials, and medical supplies, while the Strip suffers from a continuous blockade since 2007, which caused a widespread collapse of the health infrastructure and basic services.
Limiting deformities
The supervisor of physiotherapy at Doctors Without Borders, Muhammad Al-Qatrawi, says that the organization introduced the technology of plastic masks manufactured by 3D printing to the Gaza Strip in 2020, with the aim of treating burn victims, especially face and neck injuries.
He explained that the treatment depends on performing a scan of the face of the injured person, then designing a special mold by a 3D printer, before manufacturing a plastic mask that presses on the burn areas for hours daily, which helps to limit deformities and scars and prevent the random growth of damaged tissue.
Al-Qatrawi added that this technology contributes to maintaining the shape of the face and neck as much as possible, and it also leaves a positive impact on the psychological and physical state of the injured, especially children who constitute about 85% of the beneficiaries of this treatment program.
With the rise in the numbers of burn victims during the recent war, Doctors Without Borders expanded its services and established medical points in different areas of the Strip, in an attempt to meet the growing needs of the wounded.
To alleviate the psychological burden on children, medical teams developed transparent masks and others decorated with drawings and colors that suit their ages, with the aim of encouraging them to wear them for long hours daily.
Loss of technical equipment
However, the treatment program faces the danger of stopping due to the lack of raw materials necessary for 3D printing, in addition to the possibilities of devices breaking down in light of the difficulty of bringing spare parts and technical equipment into the besieged Strip.
Doctors Without Borders had announced earlier the cessation of part of its medical supplies to Gaza, after the Israeli restrictions that affected the work of international humanitarian organizations, which threatens the continuation of vital health services in the Strip.
In January last year, Israel canceled the work licenses of 37 international organizations working in the humanitarian field, including Doctors Without Borders, under the pretext of non-compliance with new security registration procedures, while human rights and humanitarian organizations warned of the worsening of the health and humanitarian crisis in Gaza as a result of the continuation of the blockade and the repercussions of the war.
