In October and November 2024 Kinder Relief evacuated babies Alaa and Suhail from Gaza to Jordan for life-saving cardiac treatment along with their mothers and young siblings (a total of five people).
Their medevacs were the first from Gaza carried out by a non-profit organization without government support since the closure of the Rafah Crossing in May of that year.
Our team then evacuated two-year old Jamal and his father from Gaza to Jordan for emergency cardiac treatment in December 2024.
In the aftermath of the Rafah Crossing’s closure, senior medical personnel in Gaza had informed Kinder Relief about the tragic plight of children suffering from serious but treatable congenital heart defects. Many of these children were dying due to the absence of any treatment options for them in Gaza.
Our medical evacuation team thus started developing a pathway to evacuate children with life-threatening cardiac conditions from Gaza for treatment. Working in partnership with cardiologists in Gaza, the team identified some of the most urgent pediatric cardiac cases in the enclave and obtained the available medical reports each patient. Next the team secured a world class, fully-funded treatment option for these children in Jordan, along with the support needed for their accommodation and essential living requirements with companion family members in the country’s capital Amman.
We then worked tirelessly to secure the needed approvals for the children’s evacuations from various governmental authorities, and evacuated Alaa, Suhail, Jamal and their companions to Jordan with support from partners who provided the transportation and logistical support needed for the medevacs. These evacuations demonstrate our team’s ability to evacuate critically-ill and injured children from Gaza for life-saving medical treatment.
