CHICAGO – After a 12-hour flight, eight children from the Gaza Strip arrived in Chicago for medical treatment Monday afternoon with a large crowd cheering them on.

The children and their guardians were met with posters, balloons and gifts as they left Terminal 5 at Chicago O’Hare International Airport. The effort was organized by the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund (PCRF).

Over the next few months, the children will receive medical treatment at U.S. hospitals, free of cost. Other families across the country, including here in Chicago, will host the children as they receive treatment.

“Right away when I was called, I’m like, ‘Yes,’ I didn’t even hesitate,” said Nesreen Abulaba who will be hosting a family from Gaza. “If we can help in any way, we will do that.”

The eight children are facing serious injuries from bombs, missile strikes and other war-related injuries. Most of them will need limb replacement and reconstructive surgery.

“Nasa, for example, is one of those children that has leg arm amputation. All of his siblings have been killed. His father has been killed. The only one who’s a living companion is his mother who also has a left leg amputation. So you start thinking who’s going to take care of who?” said Tareq Jailat, director of global patient affairs for PCRF.

While PCRF has organized similar missions in recent months, this is the most children they’ve had on one flight at once since the war started.

“As happy as we are to be greeting these eight children all coming together with their guardians to receive medical treatment through our organization, we can’t help but think about the thousands of children that are still in Gaza and the thousands that have been orphaned and injured and still in desperate need of medical attention,” added Sarah Alrayyes of PCRF. “This medical treatment is not available to them in Gaza. The infrastructure, the hospital have all collapsed.”

PCRF hopes to bring as many children from Gaza as they can in the coming months.