ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The first batch of wounded Palestinians numbering 27 arrived in Iraq from the Gaza Strip last week to receive treatment in Iraqi hospitals.
They have been received by Iraq in a campaign called Help Gaza.
Fifty-seven-year-old Intisar Hussein, one of the injured, spoke to Rudaw with tears filling her eyes as she watched the news of the war and awaited the fate of her four children who she said have been captured by the Israeli army.
"I sleep here alone, no one knows what is happening to me," Hussein sighed. "I am sleeping with tears on my cheeks. From thinking too much, my head hurts. Sometimes I say, 'I wish I had been martyred'. We are dying slowly. Whoever dies is at ease and faces his Lord. It is better than to be in this world.”
A total of 42 people are accompanying the wounded.
Reem Mohammed Abu Taha, a mother of three children, is another injured person receiving treatment in Baghdad.
She has lost 24 family members to the relentless Israeli bombardments, including her eldest son after their house came under attack in Khan Yunis.
"We, thanks to God, were rescued and miraculously survived. We then went to hospitals [in Gaza], but there were no medicines or painkillers in Gaza. Even operations were performed without anesthesia. Here, as soon as we entered Iraqi hospitals, we were quickly treated," she said.
The nursing staff works round the clock, providing the necessary treatments and surgeries to the Palestinians hospitalized in Baghdad.
"If the Iraqi government decides to bring more wounded, we are all prepared for that and there will be no negligence, God willing," Mohamed Kamel, Chief Physician at a private nursing home hospital in Baghdad said.
Iraq is a staunch supporter of the Palestinian cause and has on several occasions condemned the lack of global support for justice for Palestinians.
Violence has been raging in the Gaza Strip for over half a year since Palestinian Hamas militants launched an all-out incursion into southern Israel on October 7, killing over 1,170 people, according to official Israeli figures.
The Hamas assault prompted a brutal response from Israel, which launched a retaliatory offensive into Gaza, killing at least 35,700 people, according to the Palestinian health ministry.
In March, Iraq donated $25 million to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) after donors froze funding over allegations of some of its employees being involved in the October 7 attack on Israel.
On Sunday, the Israeli army launched a massive offensive against the southern Gaza city of Rafah, killing 45 displaced people including 23 women and children and the elderly.
The Israeli army said in a statement that an Israeli aircraft attacked "a Hamas community containing Hamas activities."
The UN, Spain, Italy, Norway, and Ireland, along with several other Western countries condemned the Israeli attack.
They have been received by Iraq in a campaign called Help Gaza.
Fifty-seven-year-old Intisar Hussein, one of the injured, spoke to Rudaw with tears filling her eyes as she watched the news of the war and awaited the fate of her four children who she said have been captured by the Israeli army.
"I sleep here alone, no one knows what is happening to me," Hussein sighed. "I am sleeping with tears on my cheeks. From thinking too much, my head hurts. Sometimes I say, 'I wish I had been martyred'. We are dying slowly. Whoever dies is at ease and faces his Lord. It is better than to be in this world.”
A total of 42 people are accompanying the wounded.
Reem Mohammed Abu Taha, a mother of three children, is another injured person receiving treatment in Baghdad.
She has lost 24 family members to the relentless Israeli bombardments, including her eldest son after their house came under attack in Khan Yunis.
"We, thanks to God, were rescued and miraculously survived. We then went to hospitals [in Gaza], but there were no medicines or painkillers in Gaza. Even operations were performed without anesthesia. Here, as soon as we entered Iraqi hospitals, we were quickly treated," she said.
The nursing staff works round the clock, providing the necessary treatments and surgeries to the Palestinians hospitalized in Baghdad.
"If the Iraqi government decides to bring more wounded, we are all prepared for that and there will be no negligence, God willing," Mohamed Kamel, Chief Physician at a private nursing home hospital in Baghdad said.
Iraq is a staunch supporter of the Palestinian cause and has on several occasions condemned the lack of global support for justice for Palestinians.
Violence has been raging in the Gaza Strip for over half a year since Palestinian Hamas militants launched an all-out incursion into southern Israel on October 7, killing over 1,170 people, according to official Israeli figures.
The Hamas assault prompted a brutal response from Israel, which launched a retaliatory offensive into Gaza, killing at least 35,700 people, according to the Palestinian health ministry.
In March, Iraq donated $25 million to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) after donors froze funding over allegations of some of its employees being involved in the October 7 attack on Israel.
On Sunday, the Israeli army launched a massive offensive against the southern Gaza city of Rafah, killing 45 displaced people including 23 women and children and the elderly.
The Israeli army said in a statement that an Israeli aircraft attacked "a Hamas community containing Hamas activities."
The UN, Spain, Italy, Norway, and Ireland, along with several other Western countries condemned the Israeli attack.
Anmar Ghazi contributed to this article
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