Israeli foreign service takes care of Palestinian child

[Behind the Aegis]

Surely this act won't make up for little Adham's trauma of losing his family in an explosion on a Gaza beach - but maybe he will be able to walk again. In an international effort, the Israeli Consulate in New York and the Foreign Ministry organized a complicated operation in which 10-year-old Adham was flown to a hospital in New Jersey where doctors will try to save his legs.

Adham was severely injured in June by a munitions explosion on a beach in Gaza. In the incident, Adham's father, step-mother, and five brothers and sisters were killed. Another sister was wounded.

Adham was transferred to an Israeli hospital for medical treatment where he was put on life support. In the meantime, his condition improved, but he still suffered from paralysis in his legs. US Congressman Rush Holt recently contacted the Consul General of Israel in New York Arye Mekel asking for Israel's help in transporting Adham to a New Jersey hospital for surgery.

Mekel stepped up and got the relevant Israeli figures involved. Israel contacted the American-Palestinian organization Palestine Children's Relief Fund, which financed the child's flight, operation, and rehabilitation.

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