Gaza victim, 13, loses sight in both eyes

A 13 year-old Palestinian boy wounded during an Israeli missile attack on Gaza has lost his sight in both eyes despite the best efforts of Saudi specialists, a Saudi doctor said.

A 13 year-old Palestinian boy wounded during an Israeli missile attack on Gaza has lost his sight in both eyes despite the best efforts of Saudi specialists, a Saudi doctor said on Wednesday.

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Doctors at King Khaled Eye Specialist Hospital in Riyadh found that both of Louay Sobh's eyes were too damaged to save when he arrived at the hospital nearly one week after he was injured, hospital director Dr. Abdul-Elah al Towerki told AFP.

Instead, he said, the hospital will give the boy prosthetic eyes in several weeks when the sockets have healed from his earlier operations.

"When the boy was transferred from al-Shifa hospital in Gaza on January 13 we ran the necessary tests. However, we found that everything inside the eye had totally disappeared," Towerki said.

He suspects that fragments from the Israeli bomb led to a severe hike of pressure in the boy's eyes, causing them to explode, losing the crucial arteries and fluids.

The boy is one of 60 wounded Palestinians offered treatment by Saudi Arabia, which has also sent tonnes of relief supplies and medical personnel to the battered Gaza Strip to assist the injured, after Israel on Sunday halted 22 days of lethal attacks on the enclave.