From darkness to embraces: The journey of premature babies back to Gaza

GAZA, (PIC)

After two years of forced absence, 11 premature babies returned to the Gaza Strip, in one of the most moving humanitarian stories since the start of the Israeli aggression, where these children met their families for the first time since their evacuation from Al-Shifa Hospital under exceptional circumstances.

In the Nasser Medical Complex in the city of Khan Yunis, the scene turned into a complete humanitarian moment; mothers embracing their children in astonishment, and tears summarizing years of anxiety and anticipation, while fathers stood unable to express themselves before a long-awaited meeting.

Medical teams confirmed that the children arrived accompanied by teams from the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), and immediately underwent medical examinations, pointing out that their health condition is “generally stable, but requires careful follow up and special care during the coming stage.”

Storming Al-Shifa: The moment the story began

The roots of the story go back to 16 November 2023, when the Israeli occupation army stormed the Al-Shifa Medical Complex west of Gaza City, in an operation that lasted ten days, and witnessed a sharp deterioration in the health situation inside the hospital, amidst fuel shortages and the failure of medical devices, including incubators.

In this context, the Director General of the Ministry of Health in Gaza, Munir Al-Bursh, related the details of those moments, saying, “We were living unbearable moments, premature babies losing their lives before our eyes as incubators stopped, and we were trying to save whoever could be saved by any possible means.”

He added, “We carried the children in our arms inside the hospital corridors, looking for a chance of life for them, while we were appealing to the world for urgent intervention, but the response came late.”

Evacuation without farewell … and absence without certainty

In the midst of those conditions, 31 premature babies were evacuated through international arrangements, without most families being able to say goodbye to them or even know their fate.

The families remained throughout that period between doubt and hope, in light of the disconnection of communication and the difficulty of accessing any confirmed information.

One of the fathers says, as he recalls the moment of the meeting, “I was following my daughter through pictures only … I was not sure if she would return one day, or if I would see her again.”

Painful testimonies and postponed meetings

Among the most moving testimonies is the story of the young man Ahmed Al-Batesh, who did not even know about the birth of his child, after losing his wife and family members in a bombardment that hit their home.

Al-Batesh says that he later learned of the survival of his child, who was among the children who were evacuated, to begin after that a long wait that ended with a meeting “unlike any other meeting.”

In another scene, the mother of the child Sham embraced her daughter for the first time since her birth, and said, “I was living on a weak hope … I did not know if she was alive, until I received her pictures. Today I feel that a part of me has returned.”

Challenges after return

Despite the scenes of joy, specialists emphasize that the next stage is not easy, as the children need careful medical follow up, in addition to psychological support for them and their families, in light of a time gap that deprived both parties of building a natural relationship since birth.

Activists also pointed out that some children returned to find their families had lost members during the war, which adds a more complex humanitarian dimension to this story.

A story larger than its heroes

The return of the children sparked wide interaction on social media platforms, where activists described it as “one of the harshest and rarest humanitarian stories,” for what it carries of contradiction between loss and survival.

One commentator wrote, “Every child of these carries a story, and every family carries the pain of an unbearable wait.”

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