Gaza’s Children at Risk of Blindness Amid Medical Collapse and Delayed Evacuations by Khuloud Sulaiman

Ali is among the 5,000 residents facing the risk of blindness, while around 3,000 others have already lost their vision partially or entirely amid the collapse of the healthcare system and restrictions on leaving Gaza  through the Rafah crossing, which was only partially reopened last February.  

During the genocide, specialized eye doctors were deployed across Gaza’s hospitals to treat minor injuries and provide initial care for patients requiring surgery. These patients were then referred to the Eye Hospital—Gaza’s only public hospital dedicated to eye care—as well as to the ophthalmology department at the European Hospital in the south and several private clinics, according to Dr. Mohammed Musallam, an ophthalmic surgeon there. 

Hospitals in northern Gaza, Dr. Musallam said, faced a severe shortage of eye specialists during the first 18 months of the genocide after many doctors were displaced to the south. At the same time, 94 percent of hospitals were damaged, and medical equipment became scarce, further limiting patient care.