Exclusive:
Jehad’s mum dug him out of the sand with her hands before he was helped by British charity UK-Med, which runs two field hospitals in the stricken enclave.
Little Jehad still asks his mum to put his shoes on so that he can go to the beach.
But, tragically, the three-year-old lost both his legs in a blast in war-torn Gaza. In the same incident, dad Mahmoud endured severe hand burns and an injury to his arm – as well as having a leg amputated after a wound became infected.
The pair are among those helped by British charity UK-Med, which runs two field hospitals in the stricken enclave. Around 30 NHS medics have worked for Manchester-based charity in Gaza this year. It comes as last month marked a year since Hamas’ October 7 attack against Israel, which killed around 1,200 people, triggered the conflict. Over 43,000 people have been killed in Gaza, Palestinian health officials say.
The blast in Al Mawasi that injured Jehad, on September 10, saw the boy also lose three fingers on one hand. His mother dug him out of the sand with her hands; carrying him to the ambulance. The family of three were said to be among 26 people who were rushed into the emergency department at the UK-Med field hospital.
At least 19 people were reportedly killed in the strike in the designated humanitarian zone in south Gaza, according to the Hamas-run health ministry. Israel’s military said its aircraft attacked “a number of senior Hamas terrorists” but the claim was denied by the militant Palestinian group. The strike was said by witnesses to have obliterated an area crowded with tents for displaced Palestinians.
Mother Naif, who was also wounded but escaped without severe injuries, said: “He [Jehad] still asks me to put his shoes on so that he can go [to] the beach. Jehad used to love going to the beach with his dad. It’s so difficult now because he can’t be near the sand and the water can’t touch his wounds. He tells me ‘Mama I need to get up, I want to go play.’ What am I supposed to tell him?”
The 25-year-old added: “I woke up to hear my husband screaming “my hands, my hands.” I dug my son out of the sand and carried him to the ambulance. When we got into the ambulance, I realised how badly injured my son was. He was in surgery until 5 o’clock the next morning. The medics called me over to the paediatric department and said Jehad was awake and wanted to see me. I was in complete shock at what I saw. I can’t explain the feeling. It was too much to even process.”
Dad Mahmoud, 33, said: “We were asleep when Jehad woke me up because he needed to go to the bathroom. I heard a noise, and I looked up and saw the sky was on fire. I put my hands up because of the heat, and I could feel the flesh start to fall off my arms. I screamed for help – I had no idea what was happening. I almost had a heart attack when I realised how severe my injuries were. I couldn’t believe it. I was very active before but now I’m bedridden.
“I am always in pain from my injuries. I can’t sleep at night without painkillers. I hope I get discharged soon when I’m able to use the walker and can move around. But I need to wait until my hands and shoulder are healed and I can bear my bodyweight on them.”
According to the UK-Med, Mahmoud is now an inpatient and is continuing to undergo operations on his arm. And Jehad is said to return regularly to the hospital for physiotherapy. The charity’s team hopes both – who are said to be on the World Health Organisation’s evacuation wait list – will receive prosthetics soon for their injuries.
In July, Foreign Secretary David Lammy announced the UK would provide another £5.5million this year to fund UK-Med’s work in Gaza. Humanitarian medical aid charity UK-Med says on its website: “Born of the NHS, we are the only UK-based NGO to be verified as an Emergency Medical Team by the World Health Organization. We provide health care for people impacted by disasters or conflict, drawing on a range of health and non-health specialisms to support our global responses.”
