Gaza girl taken to Egypt after more than 20 operations for infected wounds

Raseel al-Balawi has been taken to Egypt for treatment after undergoing more than 20 operations in Gaza to control infections in wounds she sustained in a late-July air strike. Her father said she had reached a hospital outside Cairo and was awaiting transfer to a better-equipped hospital in the capital. A BBC Arabic report republished by Klyoum said she and her father were given permission to travel in late September, with support from the World Health Organization. [1] [2]

At Nasser Hospital in Gaza, her treating doctor, Awni al-Jaafrawi, identified as a Médecins Sans Frontières doctor, said her wounds contained bacteria resistant to multiple drugs. He said she needed a skin graft to close the wounds. [2]

Accounts of the 30 July strike placed it at a family tent in the al-Mawasi area of Khan Younis. Raseel’s sister and another person were reported killed. Witnesses cited by the BBC said an Israeli helicopter struck the tent. Israel’s military told the BBC it had no record of the attack and regretted harm to civilians. Reuters reported at the time that the military said strikes on a Khan Younis tent encampment and a house in Bureij had targeted Hamas. [1] [3] [4] [6]