Mohammed Rajab Mqat was astonished. The crew on his evacuation flight from Gaza offered him a whole roast beef sandwich – not one he had to share with his four children. This simple act highlighted the profound scarcity he had endured.
“Is this truly for each of us?” the 37-year-old Palestinian father asked, disbelief in his voice as each family member received their own tray of a sandwich, fruit, juice, and water. After enduring nearly two years of conflict in Gaza, Mr. Mqat’s weight had plummeted from over 240 pounds to a mere 165.
“Famine had truly ravaged us,” he remarked, as they journeyed to the United Arab Emirates last month. His 10-year-old son, injured in a March airstrike, was finally on his way to receive critical medical care.
This medical evacuation, orchestrated by the United Arab Emirates, served as a crucial escape for 155 individuals from Gaza. The visible wounds and severe hunger of these passengers underscored the ongoing devastation caused by Israeli bombardment and the escalating humanitarian crisis. This conflict has claimed tens of thousands of lives and is exacerbated by the Israeli military’s ground offensive in Gaza City.
Since November 2023, soon after the conflict began, the Emirates has flown 27 medical evacuation missions from Gaza, transporting 2,904 patients and their families to a specialized government facility in Abu Dhabi. These vital operations are conducted in collaboration with the World Health Organization.
When questioned about the duration of their stay in Abu Dhabi, the Emirati government stated 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 staggering 16,000 individuals in Gaza are estimated by the World Health Organization to be in urgent need of medical evacuation.
As the war persists, the need for these evacuations has intensified, presenting immense challenges for aid organizations and medical professionals striving to treat the injured and ill.
Dr. Maha Barakat, assistant health minister at the Emirati Foreign Ministry, revealed in an interview, “From the very first flight, we encountered clear evidence of malnutrition: iron deficiency in blood tests, children visibly starving, and some who lunged at food as if they had never seen it.” She added poignantly, “Starvation is a medical condition we believed the world no longer had to confront.”
In August, international experts confirmed that parts of Gaza were enduring an “entirely man-made” famine. A senior United Nations humanitarian official attributed this to Israel’s “systematic obstruction” of aid. Between March and May, Israel imposed a blockade, and aid distribution later resumed under a heavily criticized, Israeli-backed system that bypassed the United Nations.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office dismissed the report as “an outright lie.”
Israeli officials maintain that sufficient food enters Gaza, but they contend that it is either stolen or that aid agencies face difficulties in proper distribution. The United Nations and other relief organizations, however, state that Israel often denies or delays requests to transport supplies from the border into Gaza safely, among other significant obstacles.
The journey to Abu Dhabi proved exceptionally challenging for the evacuees. It involved crossing into Israel via the Kerem Shalom border in southern Gaza, followed by a drive to Eilat in southern Israel, and finally, a three-hour medical evacuation flight.
Asma al-Ladawi, eight months pregnant, was visibly exhausted from the trip. She sat on the plane, her hand resting on her barely visible belly, her daughter and son seated beside her.
Ms. al-Ladawi recounted how a December 2023 blast near their tent at a northern Gaza school had launched her 12-year-old son, Ahmad, into the air, fracturing both his legs. The Israeli military requested additional details regarding the incident but offered no immediate comment.
Following Ahmad’s initial medical attention, his mother desperately moved him from hospital to hospital in search of advanced treatment. However, Gaza’s medical infrastructure had been decimated by Israel’s military operations. By the time he was finally evacuated, Ahmad could no longer walk without assistance.
Human rights organizations consistently highlight the immense and tragic impact of the war on children in Gaza.
Six-year-old Iyad al-Masri’s harrowing experience began in April when he innocently picked up unexploded ordnance, according to his mother, Shireen al-Masri. The subsequent explosion embedded shrapnel in his abdomen, severed two toes, and severely damaged his legs.
Iyad’s legs required extensive treatment with bolts, leaving him dependent on a wheeled aid for mobility. His mother observed that the once outgoing and bright boy had become deeply withdrawn.
Ms. al-Masri noted that Iyad’s injury occurred during a severe period of food scarcity. The promise of a new life in the Emirates, complete with abundant food, felt like an absolute miracle to her.
Aboard the flight, Mr. Mqat and other parents expressed profound gratitude for their safety, yet they were visibly tormented by guilt and gnawing worry for the family members they had left behind.
Mr. Mqat shared that his wife, mother, and three eldest daughters remained trapped within the devastated landscape of northern Gaza.
“Half of me is here, and half of me is still there,” Mr. Mqat said, his voice choked with emotion, dissolving into a sob. “Just imagine yourself in my shoes.”