Journalism of Courage
Nine-year-old Mariam Sabbah had been asleep with her siblings when an Israeli missile tore through her home in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza, in March. She survived, but at a terrible cost. As per a report by The Guardian, her left arm was ripped off, shrapnel pierced her abdomen, and she suffered catastrophic injuries to her bladder, uterus and bowel.
“Mariam needs specialised paediatric reconstructive surgery,” British surgeon Dr Mohammed Tahir told The Guardian. “Her arm amputation is also very high and requires limb lengthening and specialist prosthesis. Without this, it will be very difficult for her to live a normal life.”
Doctors secured a surgical team in Ohio ready to operate, but Mariam never reached them. According to The Guardian, she was finally evacuated to Egypt after months of delays — only to be blocked when the US suddenly suspended visas for Palestinians, including children requiring urgent treatment.
The move followed pressure from far-right activist Laura Loomer, who posted about Gaza’s medical evacuees online and asked: “Why are any Islamic invaders coming into the US under the Trump admin?” Loomer hailed the visa suspension as a “victory” on her social media channels.
Mariam is not alone. The Guardian reported that 18-year-old Nasser al-Najjar, badly injured in an Israeli airstrike in Jabaliya, lost an eye, his nose, and his jaw. “I once took pride in my appearance but now I don’t even recognise myself,” he told the publication. He had been offered surgery in Texas, but is now stranded in Cairo with his uncle, uncertain whether he will ever get treatment.
Ten-year-old Ahmed Duweik faces a similar fate. He lost an arm and suffered severe shrapnel injuries in a bombing on the Nuseirat refugee camp. He now suffers from phantom limb pain and trauma. Since learning his US medical trip might not go ahead, “he has become withdrawn and emotionally unresponsive,” his mother told The Guardian.
Dr Mosab Nasser, head of FAJR Global, which coordinated the evacuations, said the ban amounted to an “indirect death penalty on the most innocent victims of this war.”
Figures cited by The Guardian show the US has accepted only 48 evacuees since October 2023, compared to nearly 4,000 admitted by Egypt. For Mariam, Nasser and Ahmed, their lives remain in limbo inside overcrowded Egyptian hospitals — with no clarity on whether help will ever come.
The US State Department confirmed in August that it has halted all visitor visas for individuals from Gaza as it reviews the process allowing temporary medical and humanitarian entry into the country.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio defended the move on CBS’ Face the Nation Sunday, saying “evidence” had been presented to the Trump administration by “numerous congressional offices.” He did not provide details about what that evidence was or which lawmakers raised the concerns.
The suspension follows a campaign by far-right Trump ally Laura Loomer, who has claimed credit for the decision after warning that families arriving from Gaza “threaten our national security.”
Rubio stressed that while a “small number” of visas had been issued to children, “they come with adults accompanying them, obviously, and we are going to pause this program and reevaluate how those visas are being vetted.”
He added: “We’re not going to be in partnership with groups that have links or sympathies towards Hamas,” but stopped short of naming any organisations or offering further information to support the claim
