THE life of Marya Aman, a seven-year-old Palestinian girl who was paralysed in an Israeli missile strike, may be saved next month if a landmark ruling by Israel’s high court says she can remain in the country.

According to lawyers close to the case, Israel’s defence ministry has made a key concession by agreeing to fund her treatment in a Jerusalem hospital where she receives round-the-clock nursing care.

The lawyers are quietly optimistic that the court will grant permission for Marya, her five-year-old brother and her father to stay in Israel so that her horrific injuries can continue to be treated. They hope the court will order the ministry to pay about £10,000 a month to fund her treatment permanently.

Should the court rule against Marya, who is paralysed from the neck down, it would amount to a death sentence, her family says. She would have to return to Gaza where no hospital has the facilities to treat her. Adi Lustigman, Marya’s lawyer, said: “We will ask the court for permanent residency and lifelong financial support.”

Readers of The Sunday Times, who donated more than £38,000 to Marya last year, have helped to keep the case in the public eye. The Israeli government initially refused to continue funding treatment but has since agreed to pay her medical bills. “The money is now kept for Marya’s future,” said her father, Hamdi, 31.

Marya’s world was shattered 2½ years ago when she was driven with seven other family members to visit a sick relative in Gaza. An Israeli helicopter fired a missile at a militant leader whose car was passing on the other side of a dual carriageway. It killed the militant and several members of Marya’s family.

Her mother Naima, 28, died instantly. Marya’s brother Muaman, 3, who had been sleeping in his mother’s arms, was injured. Her grandmother, sitting next to her in the back, was crushed to death. Her elder brother Muhand, who was next to his father, was also killed. Marya’s father was injured. One uncle was injured and another killed.

Ever since, Marya has spent most of her time in the Alyn hospital in Jerusalem attached to a life support machine.

She also attends the Jewish-Arabic school Yad Beyad (Hand in Hand). “I enjoy studying very much,” she said. She operates a laptop computer with her mouth to do her homework. Her nurse Farida, from East Jerusalem, sits in class all day in case Marya's life support machine should fail.

Marya still believes that one day she will give up the machine. No one dares tell her that she will be dependent on it for the rest of her life.

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