Those who can move wait a little painfully on a bench, the little ones try a few steps and hug the bags with breakfast that the nuns of the Italian hospital in Cairo have prepared.
Shayma, 5 years old, with an amputated foot and an endless family, has her aunt by her side, but she is afraid of everything, even just looking around her.
She hasn't spoken since she arrived, she doesn't cry either, she doesn't want chocolate.
Jana, on the other hand, limps but she almost runs: her pelvis has been fractured since the house fell on her.
The desire to leave and get well can be seen in her face and in her quick steps.
They are the small injured or sick Palestinians that the Farnesina crisis unit came to collect from the Italian hospital in Cairo.
Each of them tells us their Odyssey before leaving for Italy where they will be welcomed by different hospitals and will finally be able to receive the care they need.
Veterans of terrible adventures, each to their own, they have felt the warmth of a hug already here in Cairo, thanks above all to the five nuns who look after the sick at the Italian Hospital.
Above all, Sister Pina, who, with a contagious smile on her lips, organises, arranges and helps.
The day before leaving for Italy, the crisis unit of the Farnesina, the ambassador in Cairo and his staff, doctors and nurses from the Air Force, Egyptian authorities and the Red Crescent got to know the little sick people in their rooms of hospital.
Abdel Rahman is 19 years old and has a serious back injury that prevents him from moving.
He was on the phone at the door of his house in Deir al Zaitoun when a bomb caused it to collapse, killing 26 members of his family.
In the next room there is Jana, 12 years old: during the bombings she suffered a fractured pelvis and a kidney injury which requires dialysis.
She smiles and says she's excited to get on a plane for the first time.
She shuttled between various hospitals but none were able to provide her with the necessary care.
In the next one there is Shayma, 5 years old, from Khan Younis, the little girl with the amputated foot: she looks sad and worried and hides her face in her aunt's veil.
Then there is Abderramahn, 8 years old: he has a wound on his head and has lost a brother, devastated by the shrapnel of an explosive device.
In front of Karim, not even 2 years old, victim of the recent Israeli bombings on Rafah, a handful of kilometers from the border with Egypt.
The severe burns he had on his face and chest are healing, but upon his departure he sports a red and white Palestinian keffiyeh on his injured head.
Roqayia, 14 years old, joins us: she seems unharmed, but a kidney injury also forces her to undergo dialysis.
Departure awaits them early in the morning: the three most seriously ill, Abdel, Shayma and Jana, are loaded onto ambulances, the others with their companions onto small vans which take them to the military area of Cairo airport.
The wait for the procedures is a bit long.
Meanwhile, a little girl with a plush suit and two green eyes plays with Karim while another child goes to get a chair for the Air Force medical officer: he wants to sit on his lap and confesses that he wants to be a pilot.
New friendships and others that perhaps we will never meet again: the greetings continue at the hospital, hugs and photos with the nuns, or between mothers united by resurrected hope in the midst of pain.
The joy of leaving is evident.
But everyone, without exception, dreams of one day being able to return to their land, to rebuilt houses, in peace.
Wounded and sick Palestinian children arriving in Italy. They left Cairo with the Farnesina crisis unit
About ten injured or seriously ill Palestinian children and young people accompanied by about fifteen family members left Cairo to be welcomed in various Italian hospitals.
The Farnesina crisis unit, together with healthcare and military personnel,
came to pick them up yesterday, met them at the Italian Hospital in the Egyptian capital and this morning accompanied them to Cairo airport where they left aboard a C130 of the Italian Air Force.
The Italian ambassador to Egypt Michele Quaroni
followed the entire operation
.
"
They will arrive in Rome Ciampino and then in Pisa
- specified the diplomat - from where they will be transferred to various hospitals, from the Bambino Gesù in Rome to the Meyer in Florence, the Gaslini in Genoa, the Rizzoli in Bologna and the Buzzi in Milan".
"The transport from the hospital to the airport went very well and I once again thank the Egyptian authorities and the Red Crescent for their help" - added Quaroni, reporting that each child was given a toy to better face the wait and the journey - They are all very anxious to leave and grateful to the Italian government who made it possible.
The priority now is to treat the wounded and welcome their families", the ambassador said.
The most seriously injured were transported to the military area of Cairo airport in ambulances, with their companions and the less seriously injured in small vans.
Together with them a delegation from the Farnesina crisis unit led by the manager Nicola Minasi, healthcare and Air Force personnel, the staff of the Italian embassy in Cairo, journalists and Italian media workers.
So far, 86 wounded and sick Palestinians have been welcomed in Italy
(including 29 minors), 24 with a military flight carried out on 19 January (11 minors and 13 companions) and another 62 (18 minors and 44 companions) on board the ship Vulcano hospital, returned a few days ago from the port of Al Arish, in North Sinai, where she had operated for about two months.
Various third sector organizations have offered hospitality: among these are Sant'Egidio, Arci, the Federation of Evangelical Churches and Caritas.
Reproduction reserved © Copyright ANSA