TWO INJURED CHILDREN from Gaza arrived at San Francisco International Airport for specialized medical treatment, part of a medical evacuation from the area to the U.S. organized by the humanitarian nonprofit HEAL Palestine.
A welcoming party made up of volunteers, community members and relatives waited inside SFO’s international arrivals area with anticipation for the two special passengers who had just arrived on Qatar Airways flight QR737 from Doha, Qatar.
People held black and white keffiyehs to form a tunnel, played a tablah drum, and waved Palestinian flags to welcome 14-year-old Leyan and 6-year-old Ghazal to the U.S. ahead of their pro bono treatments at hospitals around the Bay Area.
The weekslong effort is the result of coordination by HEAL Palestine, a nonprofit that works to provide aid to individuals in Gaza by either sending workers to the region or medically evacuating whomever they can.
At SFO, many waves of passengers pushed their baggage trolleys through the arrival area’s sliding doors before Leyan and Ghazal appeared in wheelchairs to a crowd of applauding supporters chanting, “Free, Free Palestine.”
Leyan received serious injuries from shrapnel after a school she was in was bombed in Gaza, affecting her with bad burns across her body. A baseball hat partially hid the large burn scars across her face, but she kept a small smile as she hung on to her baby sister in her wheelchair.
In the case of young Ghazal, she suffered injuries as a result of an explosion in Rafah after her family fled there to get away from the majority of violence in northern Gaza. Despite well-meaning chants from supporters there to welcome her, Ghazal was at first visibly shaken and crying in her wheelchair.
Both girls told HEAL Palestine’s patient coordinator Noha Shoman they were overwhelmed by the crowd of people, the loud sounds, and members of the press that surrounded them, prompting Shoman to ask everyone to step back to give the children space. Shoman then turned and got down to eye-level and spoke in Arabic with children in an effort to comfort their nerves.
When the children were given enough time and space to settle, their demeanors changed. Leyan began speaking to more people as she sheepishly pushed off kisses from her mother. Meanwhile, Ghazal found a pair of crutches and began playing with eight-year-old Anas, who had arrived Tuesday and was set to receive treatment to leg injuries he sustained from a bombing in Gaza that killed his father.
The children began to chase each other around the seating area of the arrivals area, smiling and laughing while supporters endearingly called Anas “habibi” and the girls “habibti,” terms of endearment meaning “my love” or “darling” in Arabic.
The warm reception did not happen overnight. Over the past few weeks, HEAL Palestine coordinated the travel of dozens of children from Gaza to the U.S. The organization helped the families apply for visas and worked with the governments of Israel, Palestine, Jordan, and the U.S. to ensure the kids would be able to travel for their treatments.
Co-founder and executive director of HEAL Palestine, Steve Sosebee, said the U.S. embassy in Ammam, Jordan was very cooperative and helped to secure the children and their families were able to receive B2 tourist visas for humanitarian purposes.
According to Sosebee, the 63 medical evacuations done so far through the nonprofit are because of the increasingly deteriorating situation within Gaza that is putting the lives of hundreds of thousands of kids in danger. He said of the 36 hospitals in Gaza, half are destroyed or are inoperable, while the ones still functioning are working at a limited scale.
“As far as services that can be provided, the blockade has denied the importing of medication, pain medication, antibiotics, and basic necessities to provide patients adequate care,” said Sosebee. “In addition to that, hundreds of physicians have been killed and arrested and are no longer providing services within the health sector and as a result the whole health system is virtually collapsed.”
San Jose physician Dr. Mohammed Subeh, who has volunteered his medical skills in Gaza, was a part of the welcoming party and said that providing community assistance to the children suffering from tremendous injuries is crucial and that the U.S. government should be encouraged to cease supplying weapons to Israel and end the blockade for lifesaving resources, especially medical supplies. According to Subeh, without proper and immediate care, the injuries the kids sustain put them in immense amounts of unnecessary pain.
Other humanitarian nonprofit organizations working in Gaza such as Save The Children and the Gaza Protection Cluster reported that in 2024, an average of 15 children a day were acquiring potential lifelong disabilities, including severely injured limbs, amputations, and hearing impairments.
The United Nation’s International Children’s Fund, UNICEF, has estimated that more than 50,000 children have died since the start of the conflict in the Gaza Strip and roughly 1 million more are at severe risk of death from a lack of basic supplies, including food and potable water.
Care beyond the hospital
As for the three children that arrived at SFO this week, hospitals in Oakland and San Jose will provide free treatment for them while host families and volunteers will support their other basic needs.
Once treatment is complete at the local medical centers, the children will travel to Egypt where HEAL Palestine will continue to support the families until they are able to return to their homes in Gaza, the organization said.
The mothers of the children expressed gratitude to the volunteers of HEAL Palestine who the parents thanked them and the families that will be hosting them during their stay in the Bay Area, the organization said.
HEAL Palestine volunteer Talha Baqar said the welcoming party was great to see because it showed how supportive the Bay Area community is to the children but was also heartbroken that such an event is even necessary.
Members of the public who had heard about the arrival of the children also came out to lend their support.
“I felt compelled to come to show that there are Americans that do support Palestinians and that a lot of us are mortified by our tax dollars and retirement funds causing injuries,” said Oakland resident Sylvia Aguirre.
Sosebee said the organization will continue to provide care to these children and more until a resolution can be achieved that helps bring the displaced families’ home.