Was rescued from his mother’s stomach – died on Thursday – NRK Urix – Foreign news and documentaries

The baby who was rescued from the womb of his murdered mother in Gaza has died. The BBC reports. The baby was born by caesarean section in a hospital in Rafah just after midnight on Sunday, and weighed 1.4 kilos. The girl died on Thursday, and is buried with her mother.

The mother was 30 weeks pregnant when an Israeli attack hit the family’s house, killing her, her husband and the eldest daughter.

The baby was until Thursday the family’s only survivor.

Big sister Malak had been looking forward to seeing the new family member, and wanted to name the child Rouh – which means “spirit” in Arabic.

– The little girl Malak was happy that her sister was coming into the world, says her uncle Rami Al-Sheikh.

The plan was for uncle and aunt, or grandparents to take care of the child.

Critical for the children

Thor-Erling Engemyr is a doctor and works in the Norwac team at Al Awda Hospital in the Gaza Strip, and says that the situation for children and pregnant women is critical.

– Almost all the rights in the Convention on the Rights of the Child are violated, he says.

There is little access to clean water and food, and according to Engemyr, they receive around 20 children every day at the hospital as a result of malnutrition.

– The children do not get the education they are entitled to. They are not allowed to play or unfold themselves. I often talk to children who really miss going to school.

Engemyr says it is tough to watch, especially when he himself has two daughters at home.

– Several children have asked us “do you think the war will end soon?”.

Many maternal deaths

For doctor Adnan Radi, who is a gynecologist and obstetrician at Al Awda Hospital, fates like the little girl’s have unfortunately become a daily occurrence.

According to figures from the World Health Organization (WHO), there are now more than 50,000 pregnant women in the Gaza Strip, and Radi estimates that over 30 percent of these are high-risk pregnancies.

– The risk of premature birth and maternal death is high. Most of the children who are born will also die. We don’t have an intensive care unit, and we don’t get all the support we need, he says.

December and January were the worst in Doctor Radi’s opinion. A caesarean section was then performed with no or only local anaesthetic, without access to electricity.

The situation has improved somewhat since then, after receiving more emergency aid, but conditions are still critical.

– There are too many maternal deaths.

Will invade Rafah

The girl was one of 16 children killed in two airstrikes against Rafah last weekend.

The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) claims the attacks were aimed at military targets, such as launch sites for rockets and military camps.

Locals claim that only women and children were among those killed.

Figures from the UN show that at least 14,500 children have lost their lives since 7 October. In Rafah, there are now around 1.4 million people, who make up more than half of Gaza’s 2.3 million inhabitants.

Many of them are internally displaced persons who have sought refuge in the southern parts of the Gaza Strip, at the request of Israel.

Israel has expressed a strong desire to invade Rafah with ground forces, despite repeated warnings from the international community – including Israel’s closest ally, the United States.

The Israeli Defense Forces believe that there are still key Hamas leaders and command posts in Rafah, which they want to get rid of.