Israel attempting to nix its responsibly for treating a child its army paralyzed in 2006

Tuesday July 08, 2008 22:49 by Saed Bannoura - IMEMC & Agencies

Maria Aman, a 6 year old Palestinian child, paralyzed from neck down during an Israeli strike in Gaza in 2006, is now in a battle with the Israeli Authorities who are trying to avoid providing her with rehabilitation and treatment in Israel by moving her to Abu Raya Rehabilitation Center in the West Bank city of Ramallah.

Maria - Phot by Yoav Galai

The innocent, severely wounded child, does not know her condition is permanent. Her father cannot find th words to tell her that this is the her condition from now until the end of her life.

Maria can only move around with a wheelchair which she controls by a joystick guided by her chin. Her doctors in Israel said that she will face life threatening conditions if she is moved to the Rehabilitation Center in Ramallah.

Yet, the so-called Israeli Defense Ministry is working hard in order to remove the child from the Israeli hospital and transfer her to Ramallah.

Maria was seriously wounded when the Israeli army fired a missile at a vehicle which carried a leader of the Islamic Jihad in Gaza. She along with her family where caught in the attack; her mother, her grandmother, and her older brother were killed in the strike.

The Israeli Defense Ministry is now trying to remove the child from Jerusalem, so far, the ministry sponsored the father and a younger brother of Maria to stay with her at a hospital in Jerusalem.

The father, Hamdi, filed appeals against the Israeli decision but the Israeli High Court decided on Tuesday to delay the hearing for the third time until December. The significance of delaying the hearing until December is that an injunction against her transfer to Abu Raya expires in December, and she will be forced out.

Her lawyer, Adi Lustigman, stated that he informed the High Court that Abu Raya lacks the needed equipment which could accommodate her special needs.

Adi added that Maria needs to live close to the hospital and that she still needs to be close to the emergency room.

Talking to reporters in front of the court, the lawyer stated that Maria already lost her mother, her brother and her grandmother, Israeli Ynet News reported.“We cannot bring them back to her, but we can do things to make her life better”, he added, “We need to take care of her for life, she cannot survive outside Israel”, the Ynet news added.

The father of the child said that Israel is trying to avoid setting a precedent which would encourage Palestinians seriously hurt by Israel to seek medical treatment in Israel.

Meanwhile, the Israeli Defense Ministry stated that the Israeli law does not require the army to compensate or provide treatment to Palestinians hurt during Israeli attacks against Palestinian fighters either in the West Bank or in the Gaza Strip.

Thousands of Palestinians were maimed due to Israeli attacks in the occupied territories. Even during the first Intifada, which was peaceful in nature, Israeli soldiers killed several thousands and paralyzed several thousands of residents, mainly youth.

palestine | human rights | news report saed at imemc dot org