Baby saved from dead mother’s womb after Israeli air strike in Gaza dies
A baby girl delivered from the womb of her dying mother after a devastating Israeli attack on their home in southern Gaza has died.
Medical workers performed an emergency caesarean section to rescue Sabreen al-Sakani after her mother, who was seven-and-a-half months pregnant, was fatally injured in the strike on Saturday.
After being resuscitated at the hospital in Rafah, it was initially thought the baby was in a stable condition – however, on Thursday, Sabreen lost her fight and was pronounced dead, the BBC has reported.
The baby was buried next to her mother, who she was named after. Also killed in the attack were the woman’s husband Shukri and their three year-old daughter Malak.
The family were reportedly asleep at the time of the bombing, which happened just before midnight
The deaths highlight the tragic human toll of the war in Gaza that has been raging since Hamas launched its attack on Israel on 7 October.
Sabreen was among 18 children killed in two air strikes in Rafah at the weekend, with Israel’s military stepping up its assault ahead of a promised offensive on the region.
The weekend’s bombardment has been followed by further strikes on the Palestinian enclave.
On Thursday, at least six people, including a local journalist, were killed when five air strikes hit at least three houses in Rafah.
A senior Israeli defence official said on Wednesday that Israel was poised to evacuate civilians before a ground offensive on Rafah, and had bought 40,000 tents that could house 10-12 people each.
Satellite images show Israel has been building a huge camp settlement near Khan Younis.
But Ibrahim Khraishi, the Palestinian ambassador to the United Nations, said: “Some [residents] are leaving, they are afraid for their families but where can they go? They are not being allowed to go to the north and so are confined to a very small area.”
At least two-thirds of the more than 34,000 Palestinians killed in Gaza since this war began have been children and women, according to Gaza’s health ministry.
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