War leaves Gaza with one barely functioning eye hospital

In a darkened room in Gaza’s only functioning public eye hospital, Mohammed Al Balawi sits quietly. He has not seen light, colour or the faces of his two children in over a year. “Living without sight feels like being dead,” he says. “Sometimes I think dying would be easier than living like this.”

Mr Al Balawi, 29, lost his vision in March last year, when an Israeli missile struck his neighbour’s home in Jabalia Camp. The explosion engulfed his home in flames and smoke. “The last thing I saw was the missile coming down. It felt like it all entered our house, filled the space … and then everything went dark,” he told The National. When he woke up, he could no longer see.

After five months of a devastating Israeli military offensive, there was no functioning eye hospital in northern Gaza, and by the time Mr Al Balawi received any medical care it was too late. “The doctors told me my retina had detached, that the internal parts of my eyes were severely damaged from the blast,” he says. “They could have saved my sight if the equipment was there, but there was nothing.”

Israeli attacks have devastated most of Gaza's healthcare sector since the war began in October 2023, with most hospitals either badly damaged or destroyed and scores of medical workers either killed or detained.

More than 1,500 Palestinians have lost their eyesight, according to the territory's health ministry. Another 4,000 people are at risk of going blind from untreated injuries and chronic conditions.

“We’re seeing an unprecedented number of eye injuries,” Eyad Abu Karsh, an ophthalmologist at the Eye Hospital in Gaza city, told The National. “Many result from direct head trauma, but also from the intense heat and pressure of Israeli missiles, which can cause blindness even without direct impact.”

The Eye Hospital was destroyed by Israeli air strikes early in the war. “Several patients lost their vision because the hospital was not operational when they needed urgent treatment,” says Dr Abu Karsh.

Although the hospital has partially reopened, it remains on the brink of collapse. “We are working with three worn-out surgical scissors for the entire hospital,” Dr Abdel Salam Sabah, the hospital’s director, told The National. “Doctors are forced to reuse them in violation of medical standards because we simply have no choice. We’re trying to save whatever vision we can, with almost nothing.”

Besides surgical equipment, the hospital faces critical shortages of medication, diagnostic tools and fuel to run its generators. Yet it is the only dedicated eye care centre in the entire Gaza Strip.

“We have children here who will never see again,” says Dr Sabah. “Some were born seeing, but the war took that from them. Israeli missiles didn’t just kill people, they erased futures.”

With Israel continuing its blockade on the entry of aid that was imposed on March 2, even the most basic medical supplies remain out of reach. “We are watching our people go blind because we can’t get them antibiotics, let alone surgical lasers or retinal equipment,” Dr Sabah says.

The health ministry has issued an urgent appeal to international humanitarian organisations to deliver ophthalmic equipment and support the Eye Hospital. But as the war rages on, aid has barely trickled in.

“In Gaza, we are not only fighting to save lives, we are fighting to save sight, to preserve one of the last connections people have to the world,” Dr Abu Karsh says.

Beyond the physical trauma, there is the emotional toll of blindness. For Mr Al Balawi, the loss of vision has cut him off from his family. “I have a son and daughter, and I can no longer see them grow,” he says. “I don’t know what they look like any more.”

He dreams of going abroad for surgery. Doctors say his sight could still be restored with the right intervention. “But in Gaza, nothing is possible,” he says.

“I just want to see my children again.”