Humanitarian organizations in Boston have been evacuating children from Gaza for months to provide medical care in the City as conflict in the region persists.
Heal Palestine, a nonprofit humanitarian organization, has been working to provide long-term aid, including healthcare and educational resources, to Palestinian children in Gaza.
Earlier this year, the organization brought two brothers to Boston for treatment. 5-year-old Aser Abumuhaisen, who lost a leg, and 13-year-old Anas Abumuhaisen, who received serious burns, were the two evacuated.
“For these two boys, they have long-term needs,” said Steve Sosebee, executive director and co-founder of Heal Palestine. “What we do for our kids is we continue to support their medical needs.”
After the children received medical treatment, Sosebee said the organization will help provide lodging accommodations in Egypt or the United States until they can be reunited with their families.
Heal Palestine used fundraising efforts to provide medical care for Aser and Anas.
“We had to hire a special medical flight to bring them, they were in such bad condition, and we managed to do that by a social media campaign that raised the necessary funds for them,” Sosebee said.
However, Sosebee said it has been “a massive challenge” to evacuate children due to new border restrictions in the region. He said prior to the border closing, “continuous evacuations everyday into Egypt for these injured children” occurred.
“It’s up to organizations, in this case our organization, to step in and provide access to care that is otherwise unavailable,” Sosebee said.
A spokesperson for Doctors Without Borders wrote in an email to The Daily Free Press that the process for a wounded patient to receive care from abroad “is long and complicated,” with patients often having to wait months for a response.
The spokesperson wrote that Doctors Without Borders calls for “ensuring that all patients and their caregivers are guaranteed safe, voluntary and dignified return to Gaza.”
Cole Harrison, executive director of Massachusetts Peace Action, an organization advocating for non-military solutions to international conflicts, called on Massachusetts senators Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey to support congressional resolutions to block arms sales to Israel.
U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders introduced Joint Resolutions of Disapproval, which would “block the sale of more than $20 billion in offensive U.S. weaponry to Israel,” according to a press release from the senator’s office.
“Our two senators have not yet decided whether they’re going to support that or not,” Harrison said. “They should support it, and people in Massachusetts should contact Sen. Warren and Sen. Markey and tell them to support Sen. Sanders.”
On a local level, Harrison spoke to the importance of advocating for an end to the war. He said residents should join one of the groups protesting the war, such as MAPA, and “get active.”
Sosebee said it is important to continue bringing attention to the ongoing conflict in Gaza.
“Hundreds of children are being injured every week, including kids with significant medical conditions, which could be prevented if there was an end to this ongoing conflict,” Sosebee said. “I don’t think there’s any question that raising awareness about what’s happening on the ground there is absolutely critical.”
