At least eight children who were evacuated from Gaza as premature babies in the early weeks of the war have returned from Egypt and been reunited with their relatives. The toddlers were among more than 30 severely ill newborns in incubators who were evacuated from Gaza's Shifa Hospital in November 2023 during heavy fighting.
The hospital complex had earlier been occupied by Israeli forces, who said it was being used by Hamas. Sundus al-Kurd, a mother waiting for her daughter's return on Monday, said she was torn between fear and joy, as she worried that she would not be accepted as a parent after more than two years apart.
Waiting at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis and clutching a pink-embroidered dress for her daughter, Bisan, the mother described how she had tried to take her newborn baby out of Shifa Hospital after Israeli forces occupied it, but was told that Bisan could not be moved from her incubator.
It was almost a year before Sundus learned what happened to her. I lived between despair and hope that my daughter might still be alive, she explained. Months later, we heard in the news that premature infants had died in Shifa. I would look at the photos, trying to feel, as a mother, whether this could be my child or not.
After nearly a year, Sundus was told that her daughter was alive and well in an Egyptian field hospital, identified by the pink bracelet she had been given after birth. Sundus had already suffered the loss of another child, her parents, and her brother, and said that the news her daughter was alive was like a dream.
The return of these toddlers is a small triumph amidst the complex socio-political environment of Gaza, which remains uncertain, divided, and fraught with challenges as tensions between Israeli forces and Hamas continue to affect everyday lives.
The hospital complex had earlier been occupied by Israeli forces, who said it was being used by Hamas. Sundus al-Kurd, a mother waiting for her daughter's return on Monday, said she was torn between fear and joy, as she worried that she would not be accepted as a parent after more than two years apart.
Waiting at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis and clutching a pink-embroidered dress for her daughter, Bisan, the mother described how she had tried to take her newborn baby out of Shifa Hospital after Israeli forces occupied it, but was told that Bisan could not be moved from her incubator.
It was almost a year before Sundus learned what happened to her. I lived between despair and hope that my daughter might still be alive, she explained. Months later, we heard in the news that premature infants had died in Shifa. I would look at the photos, trying to feel, as a mother, whether this could be my child or not.
After nearly a year, Sundus was told that her daughter was alive and well in an Egyptian field hospital, identified by the pink bracelet she had been given after birth. Sundus had already suffered the loss of another child, her parents, and her brother, and said that the news her daughter was alive was like a dream.
The return of these toddlers is a small triumph amidst the complex socio-political environment of Gaza, which remains uncertain, divided, and fraught with challenges as tensions between Israeli forces and Hamas continue to affect everyday lives.
