Gaza youngster, 4, lost both his arm and his family. From across the globe, he is being given another opportunity

Omar Abu Kuwaik lives far away from Gaza. The 4-year-old lost a portion of his arm in an Israeli attack that also claimed the lives of his sister and parents.

He is among the fortunate.

Omar was transported from Gaza to the United States, where he got medical care and was fitted with a prosthetic limb, thanks to the efforts of family members and random bystanders. He lived with his aunt in a New York City home that was managed by a medical organization.

For him and his aunt Maha Abu Kuwaik, facing an uncertain future, it was a little bit of grace amid an ocean of anguish. The sorrow and hopelessness felt by those who remain imprisoned in Gaza are eternal.

Abu Kuwaik, who now views her brother’s boy as her fourth child, is happy that she was able to provide for him in this way.

However, it was a horrible decision. She had to leave her husband and three teenage children behind in a large tent camp in Rafah, the southernmost city of Gaza, in order to go with Omar. Abu Kuwaik is aware that she could not see her family again since Israel has been carrying out attacks in locations, like Rafah, where it has ordered residents to seek refuge.

She said, “My kids adore Omar so much.” “They informed me that we are no longer children. Let Omar get treatment; go. It’s in his best interest. It is his one opportunity.

She said that Omar was once an extroverted youngster and that, like his late father, an engineer, he is intelligent. He is now often reclusive and prone to crying. Why don’t they have a home like the youngsters he sees on YouTube, he wonders.

When you ask Omar a question, he says, “I don’t want to talk,” covering his ears with his right palm and the stump of his left arm.

He finally says, “Kindergarten was nice, and I was happy on the first day.” Only a few weeks before the war broke out, he enrolled in school. However, he claims that he is terrified to leave his aunt’s side and that is why he no longer wants to attend kindergarten.

Still, he could have had a fresh fantasy after his travel to fresh York.

Omar said, “I want to be a pilot when I grow up so I can bring people places.”

Omar was the Global Medical Relief Fund’s first-ever adopted Palestinian infant from Gaza. Elissa Montanti, the founder of the Staten Island organization, has dedicated the last 25 years to providing free medical treatment to hundreds of children who have lost limbs in conflicts or natural catastrophes, including those in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Every youngster was unfamiliar at first. Each one became a member of her “global family,” and as their bodies enlarge, they will return to the United States for new prosthetic limbs. Everything is sponsored by her foundation, with the exception of the medical care, which is mostly provided by Philadelphia’s Shriners Children’s Hospital.

As the conflict in Gaza flared up in October, Montanti realized she had to provide a hand. But to be really honest, I asked, ‘How? When these children are unable to leave Gaza, how will I ever be able to free them?

Although Montanti had never seen Omar, she was aware that every day, kids just like him were suffering grave injuries.

The Israeli military barrier around Gaza was breached by militants commanded by Hamas on October 7, sparking the worst phase of the war between Israel and the Palestinians in decades. These militants then rushed into Israeli neighborhoods. over 250 individuals were held captive and over 1,200 people died.

Israel’s answer has been to completely destroy much of Gaza. After fewer than five months of fighting, the Israeli force has caused a severe humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza, forcing 80% of the 2.3 million residents to flee their homes. According to one estimate, half of the structures in the coastal enclave have been demolished or severely damaged.

According to the Health Ministry, the death toll in Gaza surpassed 30,000 on Thursday, while over 70,000 people were reported injured. The ministry reports that women and children account for almost two-thirds of those slain, but it does not distinguish between fighters and civilians in its statistics. Israel accuses Hamas of causing civilian casualties, claiming that its fighters interact with the populace.

After the fighting lasted for two weeks, Omar’s family barely survived. They had vacated the apartment they had purchased in Gaza City just months before it was destroyed by an Israeli attack. The family of his aunt hurriedly left the building next door. It was bombarded as well.

The family parted ways to reside with various relatives after being homeless and just having the clothing on their backs. However, during a conflict, even apparently little choices—like where to take cover—have far-reaching effects.

In the center of Gaza, in the Nuseirat refugee camp, Omar’s grandparents’ house was struck by two Israeli bombings on December 6. His face’s flesh was torn off by the explosion, revealing deep cuts interspersed with raw pink layers. It was not possible to preserve his left arm below the elbow. The deceased included his parents, sister, age six, grandparents, two aunts, and a cousin.

As rescuers dug with their hands through soot-blackened concrete, Omar was trapped under the debris. to last, they arrived to his little body, which was still warm and bleeding but was still alive, and they dragged him to safety. The lone survivor was him.

Omar’s arm was bandaged while he slept on a bed in a hospital hallway for many weeks, yet his child’s imagination continued to believe that it would heal. His leg and torso burns could only get basic treatment from Gaza’s failing health care system.

After learning about Omar from the organization’s humanitarian team in Gaza, Adib Chouiki, vice president of Rahma Worldwide, a U.S.-based nonprofit, said, “Our view was, anywhere is better for him than being in Gaza.”

Only a few hundred individuals each day, mostly those with foreign citizenship, are permitted to leave Gaza due to harsh restrictions imposed by Israel and Egypt. Private brokers have allowed some Palestinians to leave. According to the World Health Organization, 1,625 companions and 2,293 patients—1,498 injured and 795 sick—have left Gaza for medical care. However, the United Nations refugee agency reports that some 8,000 patients are still waiting to go overseas.

Chouiki started contacting people he knew in the administrations of Egypt, Israel, and Palestine. He obtained Israeli security approval for the aunt to travel with her nephew from Gaza to Egypt, as well as fresh passports for Omar and Abu Kuwaik.

Abu Kuwaik was embracing a risk. While Montanti was still trying to persuade the U.S. authorities to approve Omar’s flight to New York, he received permission to depart Gaza.

Abu Kuwaik said, “He cried and cried and begged me to take him back to my kids.” “After a while, we managed to get him into the ambulance and head toward the border.”

They had to wait anxiously for their documents to be reviewed before being bundled into an Egyptian ambulance and driven quickly into the Sinai desert.

After arriving safely at a military hospital in Egypt, Omar and his aunt had to wait for several weeks before being allowed to board a flight to New York on January 17 by U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

Although Omar’s wounds are healed, his trauma is still very much present. He had skin transplant surgery at Philadelphia’s Shriners Children’s Hospital to treat the serious burn on his leg. His face still has a cluster of gray shrapnel scars that resemble freckles.

On Wednesday, he approached the prosthetic limb that was lying on a table, smiling mischievously and reaching out to touch it. He was excited to get fitted with his new arm. “It feels good to have my arm.”

“The children feel complete,” said Montanti. “Psychologically, it’s really significant.”

Two other children from Gaza, including an American citizen who was stranded there when the conflict broke out, are now receiving treatment from Shriners. Another youngster, a two-year-old boy whose leg was severed above the knee, is scheduled to arrive from Gaza. His mother will be traveling with him, relocating from their hometown for the sake of her kid.

A day after the kid acquired his arm, Omar and his aunt flew back to Cairo. A member of her extended family who owns a house in Egypt joined them; they will remain there while they look for more permanent lodgings.

“I nearly never sleep,” said Abu Kuwaik. “I consider Omar and my children, and the living conditions they endure in those tents back there.”

Food is in short supply. Fears of an impending famine have been raised by Israel’s near-total blockade of Gaza, which has forced more than 500,000 Palestinians to the verge of hunger. Furthermore, she said that there is minimal wind and weather protection in the tiny tent they share with 40 other individuals. A single sick individual may cause a disease to spread like wildfire.

Although internet and phone service have been often cut off in Gaza due to the conflict, Abu Kuwaik manages to stay in contact “when there’s network.” Her family often has to trek to the Kuwaiti Hospital, a press center, in order to get a signal.

Omar and his aunt may be forced into exile after returning to Egypt; their fates remain uncertain.

However, Omar has nowhere to go back to in Abu Kuwaik.

“It is unimaginable for me to return to Gaza,” she murmured. How would his life be? What is the fate of him?