In Gaza, an application languishes, and a toddler dies
ABC News
The death of a 19-month-old girl in the Gaza Strip has shone a light on the struggles faced by Palestinians from the isolated territory who require urgent medical care
JERUSALEM -- Jalal al-Masri and his wife spent eight years and their life savings on fertility treatments in order to have their daughter, Fatma. When she was diagnosed with a congenital heart defect in December, they waited another three months for an Israeli permit to take her for treatment outside the Gaza Strip.
The permit never came. The 19-month-old died on March 25.
“When I lost my daughter, I felt there is no more life in Gaza,” al-Masri said, his voice trembling. “The story of my daughter will happen again and again.”
Israel grants permits for what it defines as life-saving treatment to Palestinians from the Gaza Strip, which has been under a crippling Israeli-Egyptian blockade since the Islamic militant group Hamas seized power there in 2007.
