Ready to act fast to save his life, Maher Al-Assali's young siblings stand at his bedside, poised to pump air through a hole in the 12-year-old's neck when the ventilator that keeps him alive cuts out.
Since being paralysed in a car accident seven years ago, Assali has depended on a mechanical ventilator to supply his lungs with oxygen. During the electricity blackouts that have plagued the impoverished territory for months, his family used to hook the machine up to a generator at a nearby clinic.
But Israel has cut fuel supplies to Hamas-run Gaza as part of sanctions it says are meant to stop militants firing rockets across the border. The clinic generator has shut down. So now, when the power grid fails, Assali's family keep him alive with a rubber hand pump.
"I am afraid," said the boy in a voice that was barely audible. "I could suffocate while asleep if the electricity suddenly goes off, I am afraid to die."
Assali's family say they try to keep someone at his bedside at all times in case the power cuts out. His eight brothers and sisters and even his cousins help out.
"I'm giving him some oxygen," said his 13-year-old brother Udai as he squeezed the rubber pump in his fist. "I don't want him to die."
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