Palestinian family still seeking help for son paralyzed by Oct. 7 Hamas rocket

Three years after a Hamas rocket paralyzed 10-year-old Kinaan Dadou in the West Bank, his family is still seeking medical and financial help. The father told the Guardian that neither Israeli nor Palestinian authorities take responsibility for the boy's care, leaving them in limbo with mounting costs and no specialist treatment.

Three years after a Hamas rocket struck his home in the West Bank on October 7, 2023, 10-year-old Kinaan Dadou remains fully paralyzed, and his family is still struggling to secure medical and financial help. The rocket, one of thousands launched from Gaza that day, sent shrapnel into Kinaan's head. His parents drove him to a hospital after an ambulance promised by an Israeli soldier never arrived; he was seen hours later, his brain hemorrhaging. Now breathing and feeding through tubes, Kinaan requires monthly medication costing NIS 4,000 ($1,250), more than his family can afford. His father, Alaa Hassan Yakoub Dadou, told the UK's Guardian that both Israeli and Palestinian authorities have failed them. The family lives in Khirbet Umm Rukhba, in Area C of the West Bank, which is under full Israeli control, while the PA health ministry is officially responsible for healthcare in Palestinian villages. The father said he used to work as a laborer in Israel but lost his permit after the war began. The family has appealed to Israel on humanitarian grounds with little response; COGAT and the PA health ministry did not respond to the Guardian's inquiries. The article's framing relies on the father's emotional account and the absence of official responses.