The last we heard (see update), Israel had approved her being transferred out of Gaza for treatment overseas on July 26, but for some reason her family and the hospital administration were unaware of the approval. Israeli authorities urged the hospital to resubmit the paperwork and said that she would be approved immediately.
That was on August 12.
On August 15, in a Facebook post, it was reported that Maha was on her way to treatment in Turkey.
That is clearly not true.
Yesterday, Maha celebrated her eighth birthday at the same Gaza hospital, room 526:
The stories about Israeli cruelty at preventing her from leaving Gaza have dried up now that Israel showed that it approved her traveling once and was quite ready to do it again. We don't know if that second request was ever sent. even if the first one disappeared in a bureaucratic snafu; it seems unlikely that the hospital administrators wouldn't be making hourly phone calls to ensure that a new request would be approved quickly.
Yet she is still in Gaza.
Perhaps her condition deteriorated making it harder to safely move her. Perhaps there wasn't any hospital in Turkey willing to take her and that story was made up to avoid her being treated in Israel. Perhaps the PA lost her paperwork again.
Or just maybe, she is worth more to Hamas leaders, who are holed up in the basement of that same hospital, as a living martyr who attracts headlines than she would be if she wasn't in Gaza.
While this may be a cultural thing, it sure seems strange that a hospital, with oxygen equipment, would allow a birthday cake with sparklers, let alone candles.
(h/t Bob Knot)
UPDATE: Apparently, Maha was transported to Turkey on Wednesday.