A Hamas rocket exploded near 7-year-old Kinaan Dadou at 7.30am on 7 October 2023 in the occupied West Bank.
The projectile was intended for the Israeli settlement of Efrat but missed by several hundred metres, landing in front of the family home. A piece of shrapnel from the explosion struck Kinaan in the head. The boy is now 10 years old and remains in a persistent vegetative state.
The Dadou family resides in the village of Um Rukbeh, located west of Bethlehem in Area C of the occupied West Bank. Kinaan’s parents allege that the Palestinian Authority has been inconsistent in providing medication and has refused to cover further specialist care.
Israel informed a lawyer for the family that Kinaan was injured in an area outside of its jurisdiction. The family received a warning three months ago that Israeli authorities intended to demolish their home. A specialist in Turkey estimated the cost of the required treatment to be approximately $250,000 (£190,000).
Alaa Hassan Yakoub Dadou said, "I pay 4,000 shekels [£950] per month just for his medication." Woroud Dadou performs routine medical procedures herself to save the family £225 every month.
Woroud said, "I try to keep the tube as clean as possible so it lasts longer, but sometimes if I use the same one too long he begins to cough."
Alaa said, "We’ve knocked on every door. The Arabs and the Israelis, it’s the same response. The Palestinian side says: ‘This isn’t our area.’ What’s our crime? That we happen to live among settlements? Neither side takes responsibility for us."
Alaa added, "If this was an Israeli child, even a settler child, do you think they’d have left him like this? He’d have been taken to the best hospitals. They would have done everything for him."
He continued, "That’s what Israel does for its injured. It takes care of them. But when it comes to us, as a humanitarian case, it’s as though they’re saying: ‘Just give him his medicine until he dies.’"
Kinaan's father said, "We are realistic – we know he probably will never be the same as he was. But at least we want to relieve his suffering and relieve our guilt."
The father also said, "It’s another kind of pain for a mother and a father, not knowing what exactly is hurting your child. That’s an enormous burden for a parent."
