A Palestinian medical worker holds a newborn child at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, southern Gaza, on Nov. 2, 2023.
Naya, meaning “deer or “flute” in Arabic, is a baby born into war. She emerged by Caesarian section at 1 p.m. on Saturday, November 11, in southern Gaza.
Samah Qeshta, 29, cradled her newborn and surveyed the tiny face and raven-black eyes. Then Qeshta wept, because, she later recalled, she was ashamed that “circumstances forced me to deliver at a time when I am unable to provide her with anything.”
Though a midwife herself, Qeshta is facing the same acute shortages as most other Gazan mothers. She came to the hospital with a few diapers, a packet of baby milk and a bottle of water to mix it. Shortly after giving birth, she was in a bed by the window with Naya when a house nearby was hit in an airstrike.
“I was scared and held her tight,” Qeshta said. “I was afraid that any moment we could be bombed. All I thought was to hold her close.” She later learned from hospital nurses that people died in the strike.
The Al-Helal Emirati maternity hospital where Qeshta gave birth is in the town of Rafah, on the border with Egypt. It lies about 30 kilometres south of Gaza City and 20 kilometres south of an evacuation line that Israel declared. People here feel besieged, too: Towns like Rafah are being hit by airstrikes.
They – like hundreds of thousands of Gazans – have now moved south, to the town of Khan Younis, about 6 km from Rafah. It’s in Khan Younis, at the Nasser Hospital where Qeshta works, that a Reuters reporter first met the midwife as she delivered babies. A short distance from the maternity ward is the mortuary, where director Saeed Al-Shorbaji records the dead.
Under blockade in Khan Younis
Khan Younis is a dusty town, dating back to the 14th century, that merges with a sprawling refugee camp by the same name. The camp was set up for Palestinians who fled when Israel was founded in 1948, and it is operated by the United Nations. Together, the town and camp stretch from the border fence with Israel to close to the Mediterranean Sea.
By night, there are explosions; some distant, others close by. By day, a constant hum like a revved-up 2-stroke engine comes from the drones – Israeli unmanned planes that circle high above, appearing here and there beneath the cloud.
And there are dangerous shortages. Israel’s blockade of fuel, power and most food to Gaza has been tight. Water is in short supply. On Friday, the U.N.’s World Food Program said civilians face the “ immediate possibility of starvation” due to a lack of food supplies.
At least 50’ dead in Israeli strike on Gaza school
The head of the UN’s Palestine relief agency (UNRWA) said it had received “horrifying” images and footage of scores of people killed and injured in an attack on “another” UNRWA school in the north of Gaza, Al-Jazeera cited AFP as reporting.
“These attacks cannot become commonplace, they must stop. A humanitarian ceasefire cannot wait any longer,” UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini said in a post on X.
Tel Aviv waged the war on Gaza on October 7 after the Palestinian Resistance movement Hamas carried out the surprise Operation Al-Aqsa Storm against the occupying entity in retaliation for intensified Israeli crimes against Palestinians.
According to the Palestinian authorities, at least 11,500 Palestinians, including over 4,700 children and 3,155 women, have been killed and over 29,200 others injured in the Israeli strikes.
As the Israel-Hamas war continues, UN-run schools in the refugee camps have become a place of shelter for many escaping the relentless humanitarian crisis. Hundreds of individuals are seeking shelter at these places while Israel entered offensive mode to eliminate the Hamas Islamist group.
Reports suggest that there is a scene of widespread casualties at the refugee camp, with medical teams working to evacuate the wounded.
Expressing condemnation, Philippe Lazzarini, the head of UNRWA, decried the strikes on UN-run schools in Gaza.
Lazzarini spoke of the severity of the situation, stating that he had witnessed "horrifying images and footage of scores of people killed and injured" in one of the agency's schools that had been providing shelter for thousands of displaced individuals. Lazzarini took to X, formerly Twitter, to assert, "These attacks cannot become commonplace; they must stop."
The Israeli army has struck the UN's Al-Fakhoura school in an attack that has left 50 people dead according to an official from Gaza's health ministry.
Earlier on Saturday the Israeli army gave the Al-Shifa hospital one hour to evacuate as concerns persist over doctors' ability to move critically ill patients southwards without the use of ambulances.
According to the United Nations, some 2,300 people remain at the hospital, many of whom are displaced persons seeking shelter from other areas of north Gaza.
The evacuation order comes as Israeli airstrikes continue to devastate central and southern Gaza, which the Israeli army has designated a non-combat zone where Gazans can flee.
Two Israeli airstrikes that struck the city of Khan Younis this morning killed 28 people, with dozens injured and buried under the rubble. Another airstrike in Deir el-Balah in central Gaza killed six, with many others wounded.
Since the start of Israel's siege and bombardment of Gaza, 12,000 people have been killed, including over 5,000 children.
Donate for Palestine
| BANK | Account Number |
| BANK BRI: | 001201247978508 |
| BANK BCA: | 0953650140 |
| BANK BNI'46 : | 1791507534 |
| HANA's BANK : | 14755057480 |
| DIGIBANK : | 1707130522 |
| Bank Permata : | 00999648998 |
| Bank Mandiri : | 1330027242122 |
| Bank CIMBNIAGA: | 707454936800 |
| MayBank: | 8043913779 |
| Amar Bank: | 1533050223 |
|
DIGIBANK : Foreign Currency A.N |
2074864818 |
| Confirm : | ahahanafiah5@gmail.com |
CTES Elog Bimbel - Daftar bimbel Tes SMAKBO
CTES Elog Bimbel - Daftar bimbel Tes SMAKBO
CTES Elog Bimbel - Daftar bimbel UTBK SNBT
CTES Elog Bimbel - Daftar bimbel UTBK SNBT
CTES Elog Bimbel - Daftar bimbel UTBK SNBT
CTES Elog Bimbel - Daftar bimbel UTBK SNBT
CTES Elog Bimbel - Daftar bimbel TES SMAKBO
CTES Elog Bimbel - Daftar bimbel TES SMAKBO
No comments:
Post a Comment