BEIRUT (AP) — When Zarifa Nawfal’s family arrived in Beirut for her wounded daughter’s surgery, one of the first things she wanted to do was go to the sea. The Mediterranean had been a constant companion at their home in Gaza before the war. “The moment I smelled the sea, I felt at peace inside — as if I were in Gaza,” she said.
But soon their place of refuge reminded her of home in far more distressing ways. Nawfal’s 7-year-old daughter, Halima Abou Yassine, is one of a dozen severely wounded Palestinian children brought to Lebanon this year for treatment through a program launched by a British-Palestinian surgeon, Dr. Ghassan Abu Sitta.
But months after their arrival, Lebanon is itself embroiled in a war some fear will end in Gaza-like destruction. In February, Nawfal was staying with her five children and her mother in an apartment in central Gaza. They had been displaced from their home in the north and Nawfal’s husband was missing, likely dead.
The children were filling water containers outside when two missiles struck, Nawfal said. She rushed outside and found Halima, the youngest, lying in the street, her skull cracked open, her brain exposed. Through her shock, Nawfal said, “I was relieved that her body was in one piece.
” In Gaza, blasts often ripped people apart, leaving their loved ones without even a body to bury. Halima’s brother was unconscious next to her. He was quickly revived at the hospital.
But staff at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital confirm.
