ELEVEN Palestinian families from the Gaza Strip remain stranded in Jordan after Israeli authorities obstructed the return of children who had undergone successful cochlear implant surgeries under a medical programme coordinated with the World Health Organisation and Jordanian medical institutions.
According to the families, Israeli authorities refused to allow the entry of essential hearing device accessories required for the implants to function, rendering the children’s return to Gaza medically meaningless without them.
The children arrived in Jordan on 30 October 2025 and underwent surgery in the first week of November.
They were initially expected to return home after a short follow-up period, but that return has repeatedly stalled despite earlier assurances that the hearing devices and accessories would be permitted into Gaza.
At the crossing, families were forced to choose between surrendering the cochlear implant accessories or returning to Jordan.
Because the equipment is essential to the operation of the implants, 11 families chose to turn back rather than risk losing their children’s newly restored hearing.
Only five families were able to cross back into Gaza, and only after relinquishing personal belongings to Israeli authorities, including mobile phones, medications and food supplies.
Field testimonies cited by reporters said several of the children had already begun responding to sounds after their surgeries, but the disruption to their return has interrupted the rehabilitation process.
Parents said their children had waited years for the chance to undergo cochlear implant treatment, only for the experience to become an ongoing crisis because of restrictions on the entry of medical supplies.
Jordanian officials said the transfer of the children for treatment had been coordinated in advance with international organisations and Israeli authorities, but agreements regarding their return were ultimately not honoured, leaving the families stranded in Jordan for months.
Inside Gaza, patients with hearing impairment face severe shortages of hearing devices and spare parts, raising fears that children could permanently lose their restored hearing if the implants malfunction.
The families stressed that the issue is not about travel or residency but about a fundamental right to medical treatment, rehabilitation and safe return to Gaza, where most of their homes have already been destroyed during the war.
They continue to appeal to international organisations and relevant authorities to pressure Israel into allowing the entry of the hearing devices and accessories and ensuring the children’s return without conditions that undermine the results of their treatment.