Mohammed Rajab Mqat was utterly stunned when the crew on his evacuation flight from Gaza offered him an entire roast beef sandwich. For nearly two years, he had shared every morsel with his four children, a stark reality of the war-torn region.
“Wait, is this for each of us?” the 37-year-old Palestinian father asked, his disbelief evident as he and his family received individual trays filled with a sandwich, fruit, orange juice, and water. The prolonged conflict had taken a severe toll, shrinking his frame from over 240 pounds to a mere 165.
“Famine slaughtered us,” he recounted, his voice heavy with the memory, as they journeyed to the United Arab Emirates for urgent medical attention for his 10-year-old son, injured in a March airstrike.
This medical evacuation flight, orchestrated by the United Arab Emirates, offered a lifeline to 155 Gazans. Their emaciated bodies and grievous injuries served as a powerful testament to the relentless Israeli bombardment and the escalating humanitarian catastrophe in a conflict that has claimed countless lives in Gaza. The situation is further exacerbated by the ongoing ground offensive in Gaza City.
Since November 2023, just after the war began, the Emirates has facilitated 27 such flights, transporting 2,904 patients and their families to a dedicated government complex in Abu Dhabi. These vital evacuations are carried out in collaboration with the World Health Organization.
When questioned about the duration of the evacuees’ stay, the Emirati government affirmed in a statement that “These families must be able to return to their homes once their treatment is complete” and “when conditions permit them to do so in safety and dignity.”
A World Health Organization estimate suggests that approximately 16,000 people in Gaza are in dire need of medical evacuation.
As the conflict persists, the demand for medical aid and the challenges of providing care for the sick and wounded continue to mount, as reported by aid officials and medical personnel.
“From the very first flight, we observed clear signs of malnutrition: iron deficiency in blood tests, visibly hungry children, and some who reacted to food as if they had never seen it before,” stated Dr. Maha Barakat, assistant health minister at the Emirati Foreign Ministry, during an interview. “Starvation is a medical condition we believed the world no longer needed to address.”
In August, a group of international experts concluded that parts of Gaza were experiencing an “entirely man-made” famine. A senior United Nations humanitarian official attributed this to Israel’s “systematic obstruction” of aid. Following a blockade from March to May, some aid distribution resumed under a controversial Israeli-backed system that bypassed the United Nations.
The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has dismissed the report as “an outright lie.”
Israeli officials maintain that sufficient food entered Gaza, but they contend that it was either stolen or that aid agencies faced difficulties in proper distribution. The United Nations and other aid groups, however, report that Israel frequently rejects or delays requests to collect and safely transport supplies from the border into Gaza, among other significant obstacles.
To qualify for evacuation, a patient must be referred by a Gaza-based doctor for treatment unavailable locally. Gaza’s health ministry then reviews the cases, and if approved, forwards them to the World Health Organization, which then arranges a host country and secures clearance from Israeli authorities for the patients to depart.
The journey to Abu Dhabi in August proved arduous for the evacuees. They first entered Israel via the Kerem Shalom border crossing in southern Gaza, then endured a drive to Eilat in southern Israel before boarding the three-hour flight.
The demanding trip had exhausted Asma al-Ladawi, who, though eight months pregnant, clutched her barely visible belly on the plane, with her daughter and son by her side.
Ms. al-Ladawi explained that a December 2023 blast near their tent in a northern Gaza school had flung her son, Ahmad, 12, into the air, fracturing both his legs. The Israeli military sought further details about the incident but did not offer immediate comment.
After Ahmad’s initial treatment, his mother sought more advanced care, moving him from one hospital to another. However, Gaza’s medical infrastructure has been decimated by Israel’s military actions. By the time he was finally evacuated, Ahmad could no longer walk without assistance.
Humanitarian groups report the war’s immense impact on children in Gaza.
The ordeal of Iyad al-Masri, 6, began in April when he innocently picked up unexploded ordnance, his mother, Shireen al-Masri, recounted. The subsequent explosion embedded shrapnel in his abdomen, amputated two toes, and severely damaged his legs.
Iyad’s legs are now secured with bolts, and he relies on a wheeled mobility aid to move. Once a lively and outgoing child, Iyad has become withdrawn since the incident, his mother noted.
Iyad al-Masri’s story is heartbreaking. In a hospital in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, he represents the severe human cost of the conflict. His medical journey began in April when he was severely injured by unexploded ordnance in Gaza. This cinemagraph shows him, a child forever marked by the war.
Ms. al-Masri recalled that Iyad sustained his injuries during a period of extreme food scarcity. The promise of a new life in the Emirates, and the simple luxury of a full meal, felt like an absolute miracle to her.
On the flight, Mr. Mqat and other parents expressed gratitude for their newfound safety, yet were visibly tormented by guilt and profound worry for their loved ones still trapped in Gaza.
Mr. Mqat’s wife, mother, and three eldest daughters remain in the devastated landscape of northern Gaza.
“Half of me is here and half of me is there,” Mr. Mqat confessed, his voice trembling with emotion. “Imagine yourself in my place.”