Medical alert: Death of a small child due to aborted evacuation

Medical alert: Death of a small child due to aborted evacuation

Amman, Jordan - Doctors report that two-year-old Habiba al-Askari has only days to live as gangrene spreads to her arms and legs. Only an urgent medical evacuation from Gaza could save their lives.

Threatening health situation

Habiba suffers from a rare genetic disorder: a protein C deficiency, which causes excessive blood clotting and can result in a slow death. This disease is highly treatable - but not in Gaza, where health facilities and supplies are lacking the years of conflict in the Palestinian enclave were severely decimated.

International support

Earlier this month, international aid groups worked to go through the Israeli authorities' complex approval processes to allow Habiba to leave Gaza for treatment. Loud COGAT, the Israeli agency that coordinates authorizations for movement in and out of Gaza, Habiba actually received formal permission to leave. The authorities in Jordan had already organized everything to bring her to Amman for treatment a CNN report on her case was published. A few days ago, a complex mission was launched with the Jordanian military prepared to pick up Habiba.

Last minute delays

But at the last minute, Israeli authorities delayed the mission, which came as a devastating surprise to her family and doctors. Habiba is currently still in Gaza and her illness is worsening by the hour.

“My heart just wanted to take her in my arms and run across the border with her,” said Dr. Mohamed Kuziez, who treated Habiba in Gaza.

Parents in despair

“Habiba’s life is now in danger,” her distraught mother Rana told CNN through tears on Thursday. "I don't understand why they won't allow her to get medical treatment. What crime has she committed?"

COGAT has not responded to CNN's repeated inquiries about the delay.

Urgent need for action

Habiba is among at least 2,500 children in Gaza in urgent need of medical evacuation, the UN said. As part of the recently signed ceasefire and hostage release agreement between Israel and the militant group Hamas, which controls Gaza, Israeli authorities should increase the number of Gazans allowed to leave for treatment.

However, none were found in the last two weeks medical evacuations from Gaza. The last evacuation took place on January 16, when only 12 patients were taken to European countries, according to the World Health Organization. About 12,000 people in Gaza remain awaiting medical evacuation.

Critical condition and possible amputations

On Thursday morning, Habiba was admitted to the intensive care unit in Gaza with suspected pneumonia. Surrounded by foreign and local doctors doing everything they could to keep her alive, she lay barely conscious, moaning in pain between labored breaths.

The toddler's arms and right leg have turned black due to gangrene. Doctors told CNN on Thursday that her right leg has to be amputated, and it might be too late to save her arms.

Gangrene can lead to sepsis – an infection in the bloodstream – which increases the risk of rapid organ failure and death.

Understaffing in the healthcare system

Because of the strained situation in Gaza's health system, doctors do not have the necessary diagnostic tools to determine exactly what is happening to Habiba, Dr. Mohamed Kuziez, an American pediatrician from Colorado who recently left Gaza after volunteering with the NGO Rahma Worldwide.

Dr. Kuziez treated Habiba in Gaza City several weeks ago and oversaw her care while paramedics waited for permission from Israeli authorities to take her south, which would have been a first step in the evacuation process. But as soon as he arrived in the United States, he received news of the dramatic deterioration in her condition. “I'm trying to support the mother and give medical advice,” he said in a choked voice.

"But in the back of my mind I worry that it might be too late. There is still hope for her, but it's dwindling with every minute."

He is tormented by the thought that Habiba's condition could have been treated in a timely manner had she had access to the right facilities. As Dr. As Kuziez left Gaza, he thought, “My heart just wanted to take her in my arms and run with her across the border.”

Blocking their evacuation will be a death sentence, he warned. "To anyone with medical knowledge, this appears to be a deliberate attempt to kill this child. There is no other way to describe this. This child is in urgent need of critical medical attention."

A senior Jordanian official told CNN that Amman continues to push the request for Habiba's evacuation to Israeli authorities and stands ready to act immediately.