UMMAN, Jordan

A Palestinian family from Gaza, who lost one child due to severe medicine shortages, is being transported to Türkiye by air ambulance via Jordan after Israeli forces detained the father at the border despite having previously approved the family's departure for medical treatment.

Despite a ceasefire reached on Oct. 10 following nearly two years of Israeli attacks, Israel has continued limited military operations and has not allowed sufficient humanitarian aid into Gaza, leaving shortages of medicine and food unresolved.

Palestinian mother Iman Said Muammer, along with her 13-year-old daughter and her 3-year-old son, who suffers from a genetic syndrome and requires treatment, is being taken to Türkiye.

However, Israeli forces detained the father, Ali Fuad Abu Muammer, at the Kerem Abu Salem crossing as the family attempted to leave Gaza, even though his exit had been approved.

The family crossed into Jordan via the King Hussein Bridge and was transported by ambulance provided by the Turkish Embassy in Amman to the capital’s airport. They then boarded an air ambulance bound for the southern Turkish city of Adana.

Speaking to Anadolu with tears streaming down her cheeks on her way to the airport, the 28-year-old mother said her four-year-old son died in Gaza due to a lack of medicine and treatment, and she left Gaza only to save her remaining three-year-old child, who is seriously ill, saying her family has never lived a normal life there.

Muammer said the closure of the Rafah crossing left them no choice but to leave, adding that her husband, a WHO employee, was unjustly detained.

While thankful for medical treatment in Türkiye, she said the journey is painful without him and stressed that conditions in Gaza have not improved, asking why her innocent 3-year-old child must suffer.