STORY: Six-year-old Palestinian Ghada Dabebech says she was playing at a school-turned-shelter in Gaza City when an Israeli strike hit last week.
They had to amputate her arm.
Gaza health authorities said at least 27 people were killed, including women and children.
“I was playing in the school, I was playing on the swing. I was bombed – my arm – I got injured in my arm here. My arm was amputated.”
Displaced families were sheltering at Dar Al-Arqam school in Gaza City’s Tuffah neighborhood.
Palestinian paramedic Ghaidaa Arafat said Ghada’s arm might have been saved if Gaza’s hospitals weren’t so badly hit by the war.
“Doctors tried to put all their efforts as well as scientific and medical knowledge to save her arm, but because of the shortage of medical supplies, personnel and medical equipment that could have helped in saving this girl’s arm… the shortage of these supplies led to the loss of her arm due to health conditions.”
Ghada’s father Ahmed Dabebech said he wanted the border crossing to reopen so his daughter could receive medical treatment and a prosthetic limb abroad.
:: March 18, 2025
:: File
Israel resumed its operation in Gaza with a heavy series of air strikes on March 18 and sent troops back in after a two-month pause, during which 38 hostages held by Hamas militants were returned in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners and detainees.
The Israeli military said the school was used a command and control center by Hamas and accused the fighters of deliberately using civilian infrastructure as bases. Hamas denies that it operates among civilians.
More than 280,000 people have been displaced in Gaza in two weeks, the United Nations Humanitarian Agency OCHA said last week, adding to the misery of families that have already been displaced multiple times over the past 18 months.
