'They thought I was dead': Boy who lost his jaw in Gaza explosion brought to UK for surgery
A 15-year-old Palestinian boy who lost his jaw and all of his teeth in an explosion in Gaza is now being treated in the UK.
Majid al-Shagnobi suffered severe facial injuries in February 2024 when Israeli tank shells exploded near him and a group of friends. He was trying to get humanitarian aid.
Before Gaza's latest, most brutal war, Majd was simply the eldest of four brothers. Now, he's one of countless children caught in the crossfire of Israel and Hamas' conflict.
The doctors in Gaza managed to save his life - but only after they had decided there was nothing they could do.
Speaking through a translator, Majd told ITV News that when he first arrived at the hospital, his injuries were so severe that they thought he was dead.
'I remember them putting me in the mortuary," Majd said.
"I managed to move my arm, though, and they realised I was still alive.'
Even after that, his mother, Islem Felfel, recalls that doctors thought his case was hopeless. They told her Majd might only have days to live. One hospital refused to admit him.
But now, Majd has a chance to fully restore his face, thanks to Project Pure Heart, a charity run by a group of healthcare professionals dedicated to bringing critically ill children from Middle East conflict zones to the UK for treatment.
They are using charitable donations to pay privately for the reconstructive surgery Majd needs, and to house him, his mum Islem, one of his brothers and his little sister while they're here.
Islem speaks of the pride she has in the courage her son has shown. But the trauma for her family goes on.
Two of her sons, Mohammad and Yusuf, remain in Gaza with their dad. It's difficult for her to communicate with them; she doesn't know if they have had anything to eat today.
"My heart is split between here and there," she said.
Majd was flown into London on Wednesday night, but many other children in Gaza with critical conditions won't be so lucky.
Omar Din, a co-founder of Project Pure Hope, highlighted that the UK lags behind European countries like Italy in taking children directly from Gaza. Majd's family had to come through Egypt.
Mr Din emphasised that the project is apolitical but said that the government could do more "if they have the will and they have the momentum".
Majd's family have a yearlong visa, which is meant to cover the time it will take for him to undergo and recover from surgery. Then the charity plans to resettle them in Egypt or Jordan.
When ITV News asked Majd about what he hopes for now, he said simply to learn and to work.
He regards himself as the man of the house now. While their time in London offers a chance to play and live in peace, he is determined to provide for his family's new future.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Independent
37 minutes ago
- The Independent
PHOTO ESSAY: Starvation attacks the bodies of these children in Gaza
In some tents and shelters in northern Gaza, emaciated children are held in their parents' arms. Their tiny arms and legs dangle limp. Their shoulder blades and ribs stick out from skeletal bodies slowly consuming themselves for lack of food. Starvation always stalks the most vulnerable first. Kids with preexisting conditions, like cerebral palsy, waste away quickly because the high-calorie foods they need have run out, along with nutritional supplements. But after months of Israeli blockade and turmoil in the distribution of supplies, children in Gaza with no previous conditions are also starting to die from malnutrition, aid workers and doctors say. Over the past month, 25 children have died of malnutrition-related causes, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, though it's not known how many had other conditions. The ministry, part of the Hamas-run government, is staffed by medical professionals and its figures on war deaths are seen by the U.N. and other experts as the most reliable estimate of casualties. Salem Awad was born in January with no medical problems, the youngest of six children, his mother Hiyam Awad said. But she was too weak from lack of food to breastfeed him. For the first two months of Salem's life, there was a ceasefire in Gaza, and more aid entered, but even then it was hard to find milk for him, his mother said. In March, Israel cut off all food from entering the territory for more than 2 ½ months. Since then, Salem has been wasting away. Now he weighs 4 kilograms (9 pounds), his mother said. 'He just keeps losing weight. At the hospital, they say if he doesn't get milk, he could die,' she said, speaking in the family's tent in Gaza City. Israel has been allowing a trickle of aid into Gaza since late May. After an international outcry over increasing starvation, it introduced new measures last weekend it says are intended to increase the amount of food getting to the population, including airdrops and pauses in military operations in some areas. But so far, they have not had a significant effect, aid groups say. Food experts warned this week the 'worst-case scenario of famine is playing out in Gaza.' The U.N. says the impact of hunger building for months is quickly worsening, especially in Gaza City and other parts of northern Gaza, where it estimates nearly one in five children is now acutely malnourished. Across Gaza, more than 5,000 children were diagnosed with malnutrition this month, though that is likely an undercount, the U.N. says. Malnutrition was virtually nonexistent before the war. Doctors struggle to treat the children because many supplies have run out, the U.N. says. Israel denies a famine is taking place or that children are starving. It says it has supplied enough food throughout the war and accuses Hamas of causing shortages by stealing aid and trying to control food distribution. Humanitarian groups deny that significant diversion of food takes place. Throughout nearly 22 months of war, the number of aid trucks has been far short of the roughly 500 a day the U.N. says is needed. The impact is seen most strongly in children with special needs — and those who have been grievously wounded in Israeli bombardment. Mosab al-Dibs, 14, suffered a heavy head wound on May 7 when an airstrike hit next to his family's tent. For about two months, he has been at Shifa Hospital, largely paralyzed, only partly conscious and severely malnourished because the facility no longer has the supplies to feed him, said Dr. Jamal Salha. Mosab's mother, Shahinaz al-Dibs, said the boy was healthy before the war, but that since he was wounded, his weight has fallen from 40 kilograms to less than 10 (88 to 22 pounds) At his bedside, she moves his spindly arms to exercise them. The networks of tiny blue veins are visible through the nearly transparent skin over his protruding ribs. The boy's eyes dart around, but he doesn't respond. His mother puts some bread soaked in water — the only food she can afford — into a large syringe and squirts it into his mouth in a vain attempt to feed him. Most of it dribbles out from his lips. What he needs is a nutrient formula suitable for tube feeding that the hospital doesn't have, Salha said. At a school-turned-shelter for displaced people in Gaza City, Samah Matar cradles her son Yousef as his little brother Amir lies on a cushion beside her — both of them emaciated. The two boys have cerebral palsy and also need a special diet. 'Before the war, their health situation was good,' said Matar. They could get the foods they needed, but now 'all those things have disappeared, and their health has declined continually.' Yousef, 6 years old, has dropped from 14 kilograms (30 pounds) before the war to 9 kilograms (19 pounds) now. His 4-year-old brother, Amir, has shrunk from 9 kilograms to under 6 (19 to 13 pounds), she said. ___
Leader Live
2 hours ago
- Leader Live
US special envoy Witkoff visits food distribution centre in Gaza
International experts warned this week that a 'worst-case scenario of famine' is playing out in Gaza. Israel's near 22-month military offensive against Hamas has shattered security in the territory of some 2.0 million Palestinians and made it nearly impossible to safely deliver food to starving people. Envoy Steve Witkoff and the US Ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, toured a Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) distribution site in Rafah, Gaza's southernmost city, which has been almost completely destroyed and is now a largely depopulated Israeli military zone. Hundreds of people have been killed by Israeli fire while heading to such aid sites since May, according to witnesses, health officials and the UN human rights office. Israel and GHF say they have only fired warning shots and that the toll has been exaggerated. In a report issued on Friday, the New York-based Human Rights Watch said GHF was at the heart of a 'flawed, militarised aid distribution system that has turned aid distributions into regular bloodbaths.' Mr Witkoff posted on X that he had spent more than five hours inside Gaza in order to gain 'a clear understanding of the humanitarian situation and help craft a plan to deliver food and medical aid to the people of Gaza'. Chapin Fay, a spokesperson for GHF, said the visit reflected Mr Trump's understanding of the stakes and that 'feeding civilians, not Hamas, must be the priority'. The group said it has delivered over 100 million meals since it began operations in May. All four of the group's sites established in May are in zones controlled by the Israeli military and have become flashpoints of desperation, with starving people scrambling for scarce aid. More 1,000 people have been killed by Israeli fire since May while seeking aid in the territory, most near the GHF sites but also near United Nations aid convoys, the UN human rights office said last month. The Israeli military says it has only fired warning shots at people who approach its forces, and GHF says its armed contractors have only used pepper spray or fired warning shots to prevent deadly crowding. Officials at Nasser Hospital in southern Gaza said on Friday they received the bodies of 13 people who were killed while trying to get aid, including near the site that US officials visited. GHF denied anyone was killed at their sites on Friday and said most recent shootings had occurred near UN aid convoys. Mr Witkoff's visit comes a week after US officials walked away from ceasefire talks in Qatar, blaming Hamas and pledging to seek other ways to rescue Israeli hostages and make Gaza safe. Mr Trump wrote on social media that the fastest way to end the crisis would be for Hamas to surrender and release hostages. The war was triggered when Hamas-led militants killed about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, on October 7 2023 and abducted 251 others. They still hold 50 hostages, including about 20 believed to be alive. Most of the others have been released in ceasefires or other deals. Israel's retaliatory offensive has killed more than 60,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza's health ministry. Its count does not distinguish between militants and civilians. The ministry operates under the Hamas government. The UN and other international organisations see it as the most reliable source of data on casualties.
North Wales Chronicle
2 hours ago
- North Wales Chronicle
US special envoy Witkoff visits food distribution centre in Gaza
International experts warned this week that a 'worst-case scenario of famine' is playing out in Gaza. Israel's near 22-month military offensive against Hamas has shattered security in the territory of some 2.0 million Palestinians and made it nearly impossible to safely deliver food to starving people. Envoy Steve Witkoff and the US Ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, toured a Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) distribution site in Rafah, Gaza's southernmost city, which has been almost completely destroyed and is now a largely depopulated Israeli military zone. Hundreds of people have been killed by Israeli fire while heading to such aid sites since May, according to witnesses, health officials and the UN human rights office. Israel and GHF say they have only fired warning shots and that the toll has been exaggerated. In a report issued on Friday, the New York-based Human Rights Watch said GHF was at the heart of a 'flawed, militarised aid distribution system that has turned aid distributions into regular bloodbaths.' Mr Witkoff posted on X that he had spent more than five hours inside Gaza in order to gain 'a clear understanding of the humanitarian situation and help craft a plan to deliver food and medical aid to the people of Gaza'. Chapin Fay, a spokesperson for GHF, said the visit reflected Mr Trump's understanding of the stakes and that 'feeding civilians, not Hamas, must be the priority'. The group said it has delivered over 100 million meals since it began operations in May. All four of the group's sites established in May are in zones controlled by the Israeli military and have become flashpoints of desperation, with starving people scrambling for scarce aid. More 1,000 people have been killed by Israeli fire since May while seeking aid in the territory, most near the GHF sites but also near United Nations aid convoys, the UN human rights office said last month. The Israeli military says it has only fired warning shots at people who approach its forces, and GHF says its armed contractors have only used pepper spray or fired warning shots to prevent deadly crowding. Officials at Nasser Hospital in southern Gaza said on Friday they received the bodies of 13 people who were killed while trying to get aid, including near the site that US officials visited. GHF denied anyone was killed at their sites on Friday and said most recent shootings had occurred near UN aid convoys. Mr Witkoff's visit comes a week after US officials walked away from ceasefire talks in Qatar, blaming Hamas and pledging to seek other ways to rescue Israeli hostages and make Gaza safe. Mr Trump wrote on social media that the fastest way to end the crisis would be for Hamas to surrender and release hostages. The war was triggered when Hamas-led militants killed about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, on October 7 2023 and abducted 251 others. They still hold 50 hostages, including about 20 believed to be alive. Most of the others have been released in ceasefires or other deals. Israel's retaliatory offensive has killed more than 60,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza's health ministry. Its count does not distinguish between militants and civilians. The ministry operates under the Hamas government. The UN and other international organisations see it as the most reliable source of data on casualties.
