The first known Palestinian conjoined twins arrived in Riyadh Tuesday for separation surgery, overcoming a particularly Gazan string of obstacles including a blockade, squabbling governments and even holidays. Egyptian officials authorized a rare opening of the Rafah crossing so the 11-day-old girls, their parents and a medical team could enter Egypt. A special Saudi medical plane then whisked them to Saudi Arabia, where King Abdullah, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, will pay for their operation. Khaled Al-Marghalani of the Saudi Health Ministry confirmed the twins had arrived and been taken to the National Guard Hospital in the capital. The girls, Rital and Ritaj, were born in the southern Gaza town of Khan Younis on March 27, joined at the chest and sharing a small intestine. Each girl has a heart, lungs and other organs, increasing chances they'll be able to survive separately, said Ayman Abu Amouna, the doctor who oversaw their care in Gaza. TV footage of the twins in the Gaza hospital showed them sleeping face to face, each in her own diaper, one with an arm around the other's body. Mohammed Al-Kashif of Hamas Health Ministry in Gaza said the birth sparked curiosity and doctors from around Gaza came to see the babies because they had only read about the rare condition in textbooks. Al-Kashif said the girls were the first conjoined twins on record in the Palestinian territories. Spokesman Omar Nasser for the Palestinian Authority's Health Ministry in the West Bank concurred. The Palestinian Authority in the West Bank issued passports for the girls and their father on Saturday but couldn't send them to Gaza, because Israel was observing the last Sabbath of the Passover holiday and offices were closed, Nasser said. The West Bank and Gaza lie on opposite sides of Israel. The passports reached Gaza on Sunday, but the family couldn't travel on Monday because of a holiday in Egypt, Nasser said. Further complications arose because Egypt has minimal contact with the Hamas government in Gaza, preferring to deal with the Palestinian Authority. On Tuesday, following Saudi intervention, Hamas facilitated the twins' transfer to the border, which Egypt opened especially so they could cross. They boarded a special medical plane chartered by King Abdullah Tuesday afternoon. Chief surgeon and Health Minister Abdullah Al-Rabeah will perform the surgery,said Ahmad Mohammed Al-Sedairi, Saudi Ambassador to Egypt.
