Since the start of the war in Gaza, France has welcomed several hundred Gazans to safety. Priority has been given to families of children seriously injured in bombings, such as Ayham, who lost both his legs at just 15 years old on October 14, 2023. Artists and scientists have also been evacuated through the PAUSE program, which supports intellectuals in exile. Dr. Fadel Afana joined a team of psychiatrists at Sainte-Anne Hospital in Paris, while Gazan rapper Abu Joury was evacuated with help from the Al Kamandjati association in Angers. Florence Gaillard and Mohamed Fahrat met with each of them to share their stories.
As war rages in Gaza, some of its citizens are beginning new lives in France. Abu Joury spent his entire youth in Gaza – he got married, built a music career, and buried his father there. But when the conflict erupted, he was forced to flee advancing Israeli troops. For months, he moved from one refugee camp to another, until he learned his wife was pregnant. At that moment, he knew they had to escape the Gaza Strip by any means necessary.
Dr. Fadel Afana is among the fortunate selected for the PAUSE program, which supports artists and scientists in exile. With his background in psychiatry and experience treating post-traumatic stress in war zones, he joined a team of doctors at Sainte-Anne Hospital in Paris. For him, the mental health crisis among Gazans has become an urgent emergency.
Seventeen-year-old Ayham arrived in Lyon with his father in January 2024, his life forever changed. A few months earlier, he lost his older brother and both legs in a bombing. Though he continues to receive regular hospital treatment, Ayham has begun walking again with the help of prosthetics and rehabilitation. Though his dream of playing professional football is no longer possible, he remains determined to fulfil new hopes for his future.
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