Siraj Yassin, 10, is rolled into the overcrowded Gaza hospital ward in his wheelchair, his light green T-shirt dwarfing his skinny frame since the leukaemia in his blood wrecked his immune system, sapped his strength and left him unable to walk.

Chemotherapy would help him, his doctors say. But he can’t get it here in Gaza, and he can’t get out of the enclave for treatment now that Israeli forces have shut the only exit through the Rafah crossing into Egypt.

“Two weeks ago, I stopped being able to walk. Every day my condition gets worse and I lose something,” the boy said. “My bones hurt and everything hurts. I wish to leave Gaza so I can receive the treatment and be able to play like I used to.”

Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital is one of the only hospitals still functioning in Gaza, where most of the medical system has been destroyed by Israel’s eight-month-old assault.

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