He suffers greatly Children face wait for medical evacuation

Abdel Karim Wahdan no longer has the energy to speak. When visitors arrive, the eight-year-old boy pretends that he is sleeping so that no one looks at him. Between his frequent dialysis sessions, he cries. His bones hurt, he says.

- Malak A Tantesh Gaza William Christou Beirut

Abdel Karim is dying. His death should be preventable but because he lives in Gaza he cannot access the treatment that would save his life. What started as acute kidney failure is now chronic: his small body has begun to swell and he spends his days between hospital beds and injections that he hates.

"My son suffers greatly. The hospital has become his home. The doctors stand helpless and I can only watch and pray," said his mother, Najwa Wahdan.

As the sickness progressed, Abdel Karim was also diagnosed with malnutrition as food began to disappear from Gaza's markets. His only hope is to be evacuated from Gaza to receive medical treatment abroad. Wahdan filed a medical referral four months ago but is still waiting for a response.

Abdel Karim is one of thousands in Gaza waiting for treatment abroad. Getting approved for a medical evacuation can take years. Zaher al-Wahidi, the head of the information department at Gaza's ministry of health, said: "We have more than 16,000 patients who need treatment abroad. We have already lost more than 600 patients who died while waiting to travel."