A 12-year-old boy from Gaza arrived in Cleveland Sunday night with the help of Heal Palestine to begin urgent medical treatment.
Mohammed flew to Chicago with three other kids earlier in the day before making his way to Cleveland.
"Mohammed is the third child from Gaza who's come to Cleveland for treatment. He just arrived today— arrived with three other kids in Chicago. They stayed to get treated there, and then he came here to start his treatment in Cleveland," said Executive Director of Heal Palestine Steve Sosebee.
Heal Palestine is a nonprofit organization founded in 2024 in response to the devastation from the war in Gaza. The organization has sponsored trips for Palestinian children, including Mohammed.
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"He (Mohammed) was injured in a bombing of his home which killed his brother and two of his cousins...his journey [has] been incredibly difficult. He went for months without adequate medical care in Gaza because the health system [has] been destroyed," said Sosebee. "And just getting out was almost a miracle because there was a very small window for him to be evacuated out of Gaza, and that window is closed...for the last month, no injured children have gotten out. So he's been fortunate in that regard."
The goal of the group is to help Palestinian children rebuild their lives by giving them access to healthcare that they can't get in Gaza.
"He lost a leg. The rest of his life, he's going to have to put on a prosthetic limb to walk, and he's very traumatized...like him and his mom and whole family— everyone in Gaza is traumatized," Sosebee said. "Being able to bring him here and seeing the response of the community, knowing that we as individuals, when we work together, can help heal our kids gives us all a sense that there is hope."
So far, the nonprofit has accepted close to three dozen Palestinian kids nationwide, and they plan to help more.
The volunteer-based organization said anyone who wants to help can do so by checking out their website.
