Gaza Herald_ Between an intensive care unit bed and a displacement tent, the stories of two children, Omar Abu Yousef and Mais Muammar, intersect, reflecting the suffering of thousands of sick children in the Gaza Strip. These children are trapped not only by disease but also by the continued closure of border crossings in a reality where pain outweighs any real hope for treatment or survival.
A Rare and Life-Threatening Condition
In one of Gaza’s hospitals, nine-month-old Omar Abu Yousef lies in critical condition. The only child of his family, Omar has faced severe medical complications since birth. He has never known a normal infancy. From his first days, he suffered from a congenital intestinal obstruction that prevented normal bowel movement, forcing doctors to perform a lifesaving colostomy, creating a surgical opening in his abdomen.
Subsequent examinations revealed an even more complex condition: the absence of nerve cells in the anal region, while those cells were present near the colostomy site. This rare and complicated diagnosis made Omar’s case far more difficult to treat.
A colostomy is a surgical procedure in which part of the intestine is brought through the abdominal wall to allow waste to exit the body when natural elimination is impossible due to congenital or medical defects.
In a photo report documented by journalist Amr Tabash, Omar’s mother explains that her son’s suffering did not stop there. Due to the obstruction, waste began exiting through his nose, a rare and extremely dangerous condition that caused severe fluid loss and threatened kidney failure.
With Gaza’s hospitals facing acute shortages of medical equipment and diagnostic tools, doctors have been unable to complete the necessary advanced tests or perform specialized surgery. Medical staff warn that any further delay could result in kidney failure or fatal complications.
Physicians insist that Omar urgently requires medical evacuation for treatment outside Gaza, where proper surgical capabilities exist. However, the continued closure of border crossings has turned this urgent medical need into an indefinite and potentially deadly wait.
Mais’s Fight for Survival
At Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis, six-month-old Mais Muammar is fighting her own battle against illness, hunger, and siege inside the intensive care unit. Mais was born weighing just 1.4 kilograms (about three pounds), a result of severe maternal malnutrition during pregnancy amid the widespread hunger imposed during the war.
Mais entered the world suffering from Down syndrome, acute malnutrition, a hole in her heart, and a congenital condition involving a single kidney affected by kidney stones, according to her father, Murad.
Watching monitors surround his daughter’s fragile body, Murad says her condition worsens daily, while essential medications and medical supplies are no longer available.
“In Gaza, people are literally dying because medicine is missing,” he says.
Mais’s story is inseparable from the broader humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza, where around 1.5 million displaced people live in tents and overcrowded shelters lacking basic necessities. Although large-scale military operations have subsided, humanitarian conditions have not meaningfully improved. Aid entering Gaza remains limited to less than a quarter of actual needs, while Israel continues to restrict crossings and the entry of medicines and medical equipment.
According to Gaza’s Ministry of Health, these closures have led to shortages in more than half of essential medications and nearly 70 percent of medical supplies. Hospitals have been forced to limit services to life-saving emergencies only, leaving hundreds of patients, especially children,without diagnosis or treatment.
Dr. Mohammed Abed, head of the pediatric intensive care unit at Nasser Hospital, says the health system is no longer capable of meeting basic needs.
“We cannot provide many services, there are insufficient tests, insufficient medicines, and no ability to transfer patients for treatment abroad,” he explains. He notes that Mais, like many other children, has held a medical referral for months, but closed crossings have rendered it meaningless.
A Deadly Wait
Beyond border closures, Gaza’s health system continues to suffer from the long-term effects of systematic attacks during two years of war, which targeted hospitals, medical facilities, drug warehouses, and healthcare workers.
Despite the ceasefire agreement that came into effect on October 10, 2025, the Ministry of Health has repeatedly warned of an unprecedented and dangerous depletion of medical capacity, severely limiting diagnostic and treatment services.
According to data documented by the World Health Organization on December 19, 2025, at least 1,092 patients died while waiting for medical evacuation between July 2024 and November 2025,a figure believed to be lower than the actual toll.
Doctors Without Borders has also stated that these numbers include only officially registered patients, while the true number of those awaiting treatment is far higher.
So far, more than 30 countries have received patients from Gaza for treatment, though only a few, most notably Egypt and the United Arab Emirates, have accepted large numbers.
Between Omar, awaiting a surgery that could save his life, and Mais, struggling against malnutrition and congenital conditions, the reality of an entire generation of Gaza’s children comes into focus. They are left to face serious illness with fragile bodies and an exhausted health system, while the reopening of crossings remains not a delayed humanitarian request, but a fundamental condition for life itself.
