Israel’s proxy war with Iran leaves young children in Gaza and Lebanon burned from head to toe

Beirut and Gaza – Palestinians who were evicted from a tent camp outside the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in central Gaza woke up early Tuesday morning to go to the hospital. a fire breaks out after an Israeli airstrike. The flames quickly spread from tent to tent. Residents seeking shelter in the camp said there was only one firefighter trying to put out the fire.

Residents and rescuers rushed to rescue people from the fire, but they could not rescue Shaaban Al-Dalou, who was burned alive.

His father Ahmed Al-Dalou was also badly burned, but it was a crime that was eating him alive when CBS News met with him on Wednesday, a few days after the strike.

Al-Dalou said that as flames broke out in the camp, he found himself faced with an impossible choice.

“I woke up to go into the small house and when I came back from bed I heard the sound of warplanes,” he said.

He ran to find his family, but “I didn’t know who I should try to save.”

“I saw Shaaban sitting, even though he was on fire, I thought he might get up and run away, so I rushed to rescue my little children… I thought everyone was safe.”

Al-Dalou managed to drag his youngest son Abdul Rahman and sister Rahaf to safety, but both Shaaban, who would have turned 20 on Wednesday, and his mother died in the fire.

“Today is Shaaban’s birthday,” the grieving father told CBS News. “He is celebrating his birthday with his mother in heaven.”

Some of Al-Dalou’s children are being treated for severe burns at a hospital in Gaza that cannot cope with the number of injured.

Every day, many burn victims, young and old, enter the doors of hospitals in the Palestinian territories.

Layaan Hamadeen, 13, was among them. He was trying to get food for his family when he was seriously injured in another recent Israeli strike. From her hospital bed, she told CBS News that she wants to be a girl again.

“I want the war to end,” he said. “I want to wear nice clothes and have nice hair too…and I long for healthy foods like apples and mangoes.”

On the other side of Israel, in its place war with Hamas’ allies Hezbollah in Lebanon, the death toll is also rising. Israeli warplanes continue to strike southern Lebanon and, despite the United States expressing concern over the bombing campaign in the capital Beirut, there was a new series of strikes in the capital on Wednesday.

Hezbollah, like Hamas, which is backed by Iran, has vowed to strike deeper into Israel after a year of rocket and drone attacks against the country. Israel says Hezbollah has launched more than 10,000 weapons since October 8, 2023. Although most are still being captured, an unmanned aerial vehicle passed through Israel’s defense zone about four days ago and struck a military camp in the center of the country, killing four soldiers and wounding one. a lot of other people.

The Israeli military has vowed to continue to strike Hezbollah strongholds in Lebanon, and says it is only targeting the group’s weapons and fighters, but the Lebanese Ministry of Health says these strikes have killed more than 2,300 people in the past month or so, and injured around 11,000 others. , and forced hundreds of thousands of people to leave their homes.

CBS News visited Lebanon’s only hospital with a full-scale burn unit this week, and found that it has tripled its normal number of beds to handle the influx of injured.

Like many teenagers, 11-year-old Hamoodi couldn’t seem to take his eyes off his phone. It helped take his mind off the fresh wounds covering one side of his body.

The phone was also the only one he connected to his mother who was being treated at another hospital. Both were injured in an Israeli airstrike. As he sat there browsing, Hamoodi still did not know that his father and brother had been killed in the attack.

His aunt Jamal Ibrahim said she was asking for it, but she is worried that the news might be too much for the boy to handle.

The young victims of war are especially difficult for nurse Ali Humaida.

“It’s bad to see children in pain,” he said, “especially when there’s not much we can do.”

Already, little Yvana, who is only 21 months old, has learned to fear men and women who use green scrubs.

He is wrapped in bandages covering severe burns, from head to toe. A little touch is painful, but bandages should be changed regularly.

His mother Fatima Zayoun told CBS News that their house was hit by a rocket three weeks ago.

“I saw my daughter on fire,” she said.

This mother has been inconsolable since that day.

“I don’t care about anything,” he said. “I just want them to be better.”

CBS News Marwan al-Ghoul contributed to this report.