GAZA CITY — A video showing seven-year-old Ayoub Junaid crying after his glasses broke in Gaza City was viewed by tens of millions of people online. Junaid, who has a severe visual impairment, received a new pair of glasses after the video circulated, but they do not have the correct prescription he needs, and he still requires specialist ophthalmic surgery.

Eman Junaid, Ayoub's mother, said, "Ayoub suffers from very severe nearsightedness after having a fever illness." She said they were preparing to travel for treatment, but the war started and everything stopped. Junaid said that at the end of April, while walking with a family member along a road strewn with rubble, Ayoub fell and struck his face on the ground, breaking the glasses. She said he burst into tears, rolled on the ground and desperately tried to piece them back together. Junaid said the video was filmed after they reached the tent, and he was crying in the street, saying he wanted to fix the glasses because he could not see without them. Junaid said, "After the video spread, donors helped us and we were able to get a new pair of glasses, but it is still not the correct prescription he needs."

Hospitals in Gaza face shortages of surgical microscopes and phaco machines, while more than 2,800 patients await cataract surgery. The total backlog for eye procedures in Gaza exceeds 4,000 cases. Bombardment near medical facilities led to the temporary closure of the Government Eye Hospital in Gaza City, which is the only public eye care center in Gaza. Dr. Hussam Dawoud, a hospital director, said, "Currently, we are providing services at around 60% of what we used to offer before the war." Dr. Dawoud said, "The main reason is that Israel is preventing the entry of medical equipment and surgical instruments."

Dr. Irdi Memaj, a surgeon, said, "A child who breaks their glasses may remain effectively blind for a long time because replacement glasses are impossible to find." Memaj said around 40% of the patients treated at his clinic in al-Qarara are children under the age of 14. He said, "One of the most recent concerns has been infestations of parasites and rats, with numerous reports of children being bitten by rodents while they sleep." Doctors in Gaza have reported an increase in severe corneal infections, which they link to overcrowded living conditions, poor sanitation, and limited medication access. Some patients with these infections have experienced permanent vision loss. Health officials estimate that around 4,000 children in Gaza require urgent medical evacuation.