Goktay Koraltan/BBCThis account contains some distressing detailsIvana and her family were about to flee from their home in southern Lebanon. A missile fired by Israel got there first. The two-year old has third-degree burned on almost half of her body. Her head and arms have bandages. Ivana is a little lost on a full-size hospital bed at the Geitaoui Hospital, Beirut. She is doll-like but her cries sound very real. Mohammed Skayki, her father, fans her face to distract her as she cries in pain. He recounts the melting of his daughter’s flesh and skin. It was midday on 23 September, the day Israel began its massive bombardment against southern Lebanon. This was the prelude to the invasion that took place a week later. The Israeli army had not issued a specific evacuation order, but the explosions were closer. “We were ready to leave, we had everything packed,” says Mohammed. The house shook. My daughters were playing in the balcony. I saw her – she was black from the missile dust. I carried her as 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 left our home and only took the phone and fifty dollars,” says he. Rescuers rushed Ivana and her older sister Rahaf to hospital. The injuries of the seven-year-old were less serious. She is now staying with relatives. What little hair she has left is now hidden under the bandages. She may have to live with her scars for the rest of her life. But she is recovering well, according to Dr Ziad sleiman, one the two plastic surgeons in the unit. And Ivana brought healing to the healers. He says, smiling, “She’s so cute and calm.” “She doesn’t cry or scream when we change her dressings. She is staring around her. She sees everyone, and I believe she knows everything. She’s a very special baby. She is so brave and strong. The staff at the burns unit are closely monitoring her. The eight rooms are arranged in a circular pattern with the nurses in the middle. There is a long line of patients waiting to be admitted. “Every day, we receive phone calls from patients requesting transfer,” says Dr Sleiman. “We can’t take everyone. Most patients have third-degree burns. For fourth-degree burns he says “you will see a black limb, like a piece of wood” and there is no treatment, only amputation.Goktay Koraltan/BBCLebanon’s health system is itself a casualty of war, under attack by Israel. The UN’s World Health Organisation confirmed 23 attacks on health care over the past month that resulted in 72 deaths. The Lebanese Health Ministry has recorded “55 enemy assaults on hospitals and 201 against emergency medical technicians”. The UN says that Israeli attacks against healthcare workers, institutions, and facilities are “a flagrant breach of International Humanitarian Law and the Geneva Conventions”. In recent days, we reported on the scene of a Israeli air strike near Lebanon’s largest public hospital RafikHariri in Beirut. Four children were among the 18 people killed. A few residential buildings had been destroyed. The Israeli Defense Forces claimed to the BBC that the attack was “targeting Hezbollah as a terrorist organization” who, they claim “exploits ambulances, and other medical infrastructure.” However, they deny targeting medical staff. No one has been displaced but Beirut is now a place of traffic jams during the day and bombs at night. This is taking its toll. “Honestly, it’s hard to deal patients who have burns and traumas from war,” says Dr Sleiman. “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 do have hearts. We have children. “Before I left, I asked Ivana’s father if there was anything he wanted to say to the people responsible for mutilating his daughter. He paused for a moment before replying with a tempered and tired voice. “I am not happy.” A soldier for a Soldier, not a civil. He said that Ivana was a baby. “I’m not happy, but what can i do?” I don’t wish to be a killer like them.” Family handoutIvana already has a skin graft from her lower limbs and will be discharged within 10 days. Her family is still displaced. Dr Sleiman is worried that there will be more Ivanas. He can’t see a way out of the war. He believes that if it happens, there will be no win. “There is no winner in war,” he says. “Every war ends in a lot of losers.” Middle EastLebanon
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