A seriously injured 11-year-old Palestinian boy whose father and nine siblings were killed in an Israeli air strike in Gaza will soon receive medical treatment in Italy.
The news was confirmed by deputy premier and foreign minister Antonio Tajani on Wednesday, less than a week after the Italian government offered to transfer the boy, Adam al-Najjar, to a medical facility in Italy.
“I think that on 11 June Adam will be able to leave Gaza with his mother, aunt and four cousins and will come here to be treated in one of the best Italian paediatric hospitals”, Tajani told reporters on the sidelines of a UNESCO conference in Naples.
Adam’s doctor father, Hamdi al-Najjar, died on Saturday, eight days after suffering severe injuries in an Israeli air strike that hit the family’s home in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip.
The attack occurred just after Dr al-Najjar had returned from dropping his wife, paediatrician Alaa al-Najjar, off at Nasser Hospital, where the couple both worked.
His death leaves his 11-year-old Adam as the sole survivor of the attack.
Adam is set to arrive in Italy on a flight from Israel’s Eilat-Ramon airport, according to La Repubblica newspaper, along with around 20 other wounded young people who will be taken to various medical facilities in the country.
It is reported that Adam could be taken to Milan to undergo the operations required to treat the severe injuries and burns he suffered, particularly to his chest and one arm.
Italy’s offer of help came after the boy’s uncle Ali Al-Najjar appealed to the Italian government to take him “to a real hospital, outside of the Gaza Strip”, La Repubblica reported.
Tajani told reporters on Wednesday that Italy is “one of the countries that has done the most” to help civilians in Gaza, transferring 700 Palestinians out of the Gaza Strip into Italy, including “130 children who are hospitalised in the best Italian paediatric hospitals”.
“We continue our humanitarian action effort, we are continuing the Food for Gaza project, with all the difficulties that exist” – Tajani added – “You know what our position is: enough bombings, enough war”.
Photo credit: Anas-Mohammed / Shutterstock.com.