Roba Abu Jibba looked in shock when the doctor broke the news: she would not be able to have the operation she so desperately wanted. She nervously wrinkled the fabric of her dress, fighting back the tears that began to flood her one remaining eye.
The 19-year-old Palestinian woman pinned all her hopes on getting a prosthetic eye after suffering life-changing injuries in an accident. Israeli attack on Gaza. She was taken to Doha for treatment by the Qatari government.
But once again, his dreams were shattered.
“I came here and now they said I’m not going to get a prosthetic,” she told CNN between sobs. “Why am I here? I knew I wouldn’t be able to see with it, but it’s good and my eyes will be the same.”
Abu Jibba lost her right eye and the surrounding part of her face in early January when an Israeli bomb hit the warehouse in central Gaza where she and her family had been sheltering for months.
Three of his brothers and two of his sisters were killed. Her injured mother and three surviving siblings tried to get help and left her behind, later believing she was dead. She spent more than three days surrounded by the bodies of her brothers before arriving at the hospital – only to discover that there were no doctors to treat her because most of the medical staff had fled the fighting in the area.
One week long CNN investigation on the circumstances of the attack found that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), without any prior warning, attacked an industrial area housing dozens of civilians using a heavy munition, the result of which was consistent with a 2,000-pound bomb, according to Specialist weapons.
The Israeli military told CNN it carried out “a precision strike” after its troops came under attack from that location. Survivors told CNN in January that there were no militants in the struck warehouse, but reported hearing “resistance fire” in the area.
Recalling that night, Abu Jibba told CNN that he blamed Israel and Palestinian militants for what happened to his family. She said she believed Hamas or other militants fired mortars from a nearby area.
“I blame people…” she said, thinking about her words. “And Hamas – and this situation. Because we had been living normally in the warehouse for a month… If it hadn’t been for the person who fired the mortar, the incident wouldn’t have happened. We didn’t even want to stay in the warehouse, but the (Israelis) forced us to stay there,” she told CNN, using a pejorative term to refer to Israeli troops.
“I blame (the Israelis) for killing the children. They spared no one,” she added.
Deep wounds
Abu Jibba was once sociable and outgoing. After seeing her brothers killed in front of her, she became quiet and deeply depressed. Her aunt who accompanied her to Qatar told CNN that the young woman now prefers solitude and rarely leaves the house. She spends most of her time looking at photos of her family taken before the war – the few she still has.
She said her only source of happiness was Mohammed, her brother’s friend. The two met after her family was displaced from their home in Gaza City and became close after the January attack. When Abu Jibba and her family were separated and she was hospitalized, Mohammed offered her desperately needed emotional support. She said they were going to get engaged and get married.
“He didn’t care what people said about my appearance, when people said, ‘How could you marry her after she was injured in the eye and body?’ He said, ‘I don’t care about her body, I care about what’s in her heart,’” she told CNN.
Seven days before Abu Jibba left Gaza for treatment, Mohammed was killed by an artillery shell while collecting firewood in Rafah, she said, adding that her cousin who was with Mohammed was injured in the attack and lost his leg.
Abu Jibba said he does not even have a photo of Mohammed, having lost his phone in the carnage.
Difficult choices
Abu Jibba’s injuries were so serious that the Gaza Ministry of Health placed her on a list of people needing treatment abroad. Three days after CNN’s report on Abu Jibba was broadcast in February, she was cleared by medical evacuation. After weeks of waiting, she managed to cross the border into Egypt and was then flown to Qatar for treatment.
Most of the 2.2 million Palestinians living in Gaza have never left the strip. Before the war, around 18,000 Gazans had work permits allowing them to work in Israel. But after Hamas launched its deadly terrorist attack from Gaza on October 7, Israel closed its borders, generally allowing only foreigners and a few hundred of the most seriously injured to leave.
“It is difficult to leave your family, especially in times of war and in a difficult situation,” she said. “I’m worried something else might happen to them and I can’t bring them with me.”
Abu Jibba told CNN he decided to leave because he believed doctors could surgically restore his vision. In Egypt, she was told this would not be possible because her entire eye had been removed, but the Qatari government offered her additional treatment.
But his stay in Doha turned into yet another traumatic experience.
The doctor told her that Qatar did not offer orbital prosthetic implants and said her problem was just “cosmetic.”
To look for Ocular prostheses have long led to significant improvements in a patient’s physical and psychological health. The prosthesis consists of an artificial eye, eyelids, and any missing part of the eye socket or surrounding area. It is a cost-effective and less complicated alternative to reconstructive surgery and is routinely performed throughout the world.
When Abu Jibba left the doctor’s office, the weight of the moment crushed her. She shook and choked. Panic set in and she seemed to be reliving the worst moment of her life. She pressed her hands against her ears, leaning against the wall.
The nurses placed her on a stretcher. She curled up into a ball and hid under a blanket.
She is keeping the news from her mother, fearing that the shock will cause her even more pain.
“She pushed me to go out for surgery. I don’t want to go back to her with that sticker,” she said. “I (need this) so my mom doesn’t see me like this and get depressed.”
Later that day, Abu Jibba told CNN that what she wanted most was to return to Gaza.
“Yes, there is a war in Gaza, but at least you are with your family and loved ones,” she said. “I just hope to God that this war ends… but even if there is war, I want to go back.”
For more news and newsletters from CNN, create an account at CNN.com
