This story contains some disturbing details
Ivana and her family were about to flee from their home in southern Lebanon. A missile fired by Israel was the first to reach the area. The two-year old has third-degree burned on almost half of her body. Her head and arms have been wrapped in bandages.
Ivana appears to be lost as she lies on a full-size hospital bed in Beirut’s Geitaoui Hospital. She is doll-like but her cries sound very real. Mohammed Skayki, her father, fans her face as she writhes in pain.
He tells of how the skin and flesh of his daughter melted away.
On 23 September, it was midday. Israel had just begun a massive bombardment in southern Lebanon. This would pave the way for an invasion a week after. The Israeli army had not issued a specific evacuation order, but the explosions in his area were getting closer.
Mohammed says, “We had everything packed and ready to go.”
The strike was only 10 metres away from our front door. The house shook. My daughters were playing in the balcony. I saw her – she was black from the missile dust. I carried her because something was exploding inside the house, and the ceiling was falling.
In an instant, the family was torn from its roots in Deir Qanounen Nahr. “We only took our phones and fifty dollars when we left our home,” he says.
Ivana and her older sister Rahaf were rushed to hospital by rescuers. The injuries of the seven-year-old were less serious. She is now with family and has been discharged.
Mohammed shows me the photo of Ivana taken before the strike. Her brown eyes are wide open, she has a pink soother in mouth and her face is framed by brown curly hair. What’s left is hidden under the bandages. Her scars could be with her forever.
She is recovering well, according to Dr Ziad SLiman, one of the two plastic surgeons in the unit.
Ivana also brought healing to the healers.
“She is so kind.” He says, “She’s so cute and calm.” “Even when she is dressed, she doesn’t cry or scream. She is staring around her. She sees everyone, and I believe she knows everything. She’s a very special baby. She’s so brave and strong.”
The staff at the burns unit are closely monitoring her. The circle is arranged so that the nurses can see into each of the 8 rooms. There is a long line of patients waiting to be admitted.
Dr Sleiman says, “We receive phone calls every day asking us to transfer patients.” “We can’t take everyone. We take the babies, women, and the severely burned and traumatized victims to give them the best opportunity to be treated.”
Most patients have third-degree burns. He says that fourth-degree burns will look like “a black limb” (like a piece or wood) and there is only one treatment: amputation.
Israel has attacked the health system in Lebanon, which is a victim of war. The UN’s World Health Organisation confirmed that 23 attacks on health services in the last month resulted in 72 deaths.
Lebanese Health Ministry has recorded “55 enemy assaults on hospitals and 201 against emergency medical technicians”. The report says that Israeli attacks on healthcare workers and facilities are “a flagrant breach of International Humanitarian Law and the Geneva Conventions”.
In recent days, we have reported from the scene where an Israeli air strike was launched just across the street from Lebanon’s largest public hospital, Rafik Hariri in Beirut. 18 people, including four children, were killed in the attack, which flattened a few residential buildings. No warning was given.
The Israeli Defense Forces have told the BBC they are “targeting Hezbollah – a terrorist organization” that, they claim “exploits ambulances, and other medical infrastructure.”
More than 30 staff members of the burns unit still go to work each day. No one has been displaced but Beirut is now a place of traffic jams during the day and bombs at night. It’s taking its toll.
Dr Sleiman says, “It’s hard to treat patients who have burns and traumas from war.” “We don’t have soldiers here, all the victims are civilians. We have women, girls, and babies. It’s not about them, it’s their war. We, as doctors, must stay strong. But we have hearts. “We have kids.”
I asked Ivana’s father, before I left, if he wanted to say anything to the people who had mutilated his daughter. He paused for a moment before answering in a weary and measured voice.
“I’m not happy. “A soldier for a Soldier, not a Civilian.” He said that Ivana was a baby. “I’m not happy, but what can I say? I don’t wish to be a killer like them.”
Ivana already has a skin graft from her lower limbs and will be discharged within 10 days. Her family is still displaced. They are unable to return home because the south is heavily bombarded by Israel.
Dr Sleiman is concerned that there will be more Ivanas.
He cannot see the end of the war. He believes that if it happens, there will be no win. For anyone.
He says, “There is no war that ends in a winner.” “Every war ends in a lot of losers.” “Everyone will lose.”
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