COVID-19 In Palestine: The Story Of A Two-Year-Old Boy Heart Surgery Without His Parents

Photo illustration (National Cancer Institute / Unsplash)

JAKARTA - Heart surgery is a crucial medical procedure. Her practice was fearful. For Hamza Ali Mohammad, a child in Palestine, the heart surgery he underwent was even harder. The two-year-old child has to undergo surgery in Israel without his family being accompanied by the restrictions on activities due to COVID-19.

Reported by Reuters on Friday, May 8, Hamza was only reunited with his mother on Thursday, May 7. He returned to his mother's arms when he arrived in a van, escorted by medics at the border checkpoint between Israel and the West Bank. With tears in his eyes, the mother hugged him tightly and kissed him on the cheek.

Hamza is a Palestinian child who comes from the City of Ramallah. He was born with a life-threatening congenital heart disease. Therefore, he had to have surgery at a very young age.

The series of operations has been carried out since February under Save a Child's Heart, an Israel-based volunteer organization working to improve child care in developing countries. Normally, when the operation is carried out there will be parents waiting for their children.

However, the COVID-19 pandemic kept Hamza away from his parents when the surgical procedure was carried out. Hamza's parents, Khetam and Issam Dar Ali Mohammad, have to look after their other children who are in Ramallah.

Then, the two of them were unable to travel back to the hospital in Israel because the Israeli and Palestinian authorities closed the border to prevent the spread of COVID-19. "The entire medical team became the parents," said Dr Ahmed Amer, a pediatric resident at Wolfson Medical Center, where Hamza's heart surgery was performed.

Amer is a member of Israel's Arab minority. He led the communication process with Hamza and often reported Hamza's situation to Hamza's parents via telephone. “We don't leave Hamza alone even for a minute. A child her age is in a state that needs to be hugged and loved in order to recover quickly and become stronger. That's what we all gave him, "said Doctor Amer.

In Palestine, there were 375 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and two of them died. Activity restrictions have also been put in place, which has caused the economy to deteriorate. The Palestinian Authority has also closed schools, weddings, restaurants and mosques, leaving tens of thousands of people on the brink of unemployment.

Various regulations to suppress the spread of COVID-19 have been put in place by Hamas in Gaza, the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank, and the Israeli authorities in East Jerusalem. Many Muslim communities no longer perform worship activities at the Dome of the Rock and the Al Aqsa Mosque.