By Mohammad Salem and Nidal al-Mughrabi
RAFAH, Gaza Strip/CAIRO (Reuters) -A baby girl was delivered from the womb of a Palestinian killed along with her husband and daughter by an Israeli attack in the Gaza city of Rafah, where 19 people died overnight due to of intensified attacks. officials said.
Among the victims, killed in attacks on two houses, were 13 children from one family, they said.
The baby, weighing 1.4 kg (3.09 pounds) and delivered by emergency caesarean section, was stable and gradually improving, said Mohammed Salama, a doctor caring for her.
His mother, Sabreen Al-Sakani, was 30 weeks pregnant.
The baby was placed in an incubator at a Rafah hospital alongside another newborn, with the words “The baby of martyr Sabreen Al-Sakani” written on tape on his chest.
Sakani’s young daughter Malak, who was killed in the strike, had wanted to name her new sister Rouh, which means spirit in Arabic, her uncle Rami Al-Sheikh said. “Baby Malak was happy that her sister was coming into the world,” she said.
The child will remain in hospital for three to four weeks, said Salama, the doctor. “After that we will see if she will leave and where this little girl will go, to her family, to her uncles or grandparents. Here is the greatest tragedy. Even if this little girl survives, she was born an orphan,” she said.
According to Palestinian health officials, the 13 children were killed in an attack on the second home, belonging to the Abdel Aal family. Two women were also killed in the strike.
Asked about the Rafah casualties, an Israeli military spokesman said various militant targets had been hit in Gaza, including military compounds, launch sites and armed people.
“Did you see a man among all those killed?” said Saqr Abdel Aal, a Palestinian man whose family was among the victims, mourning the body of a child wrapped in a white shroud.
“They are all women and children,” she said. “My entire identity has been erased, with my wife, my children and everyone else.”
Mohammad al-Behairi said his daughter and grandson were still under the rubble. “It’s a feeling of sadness, depression, we have nothing left in this life to cry about, what feeling will we have? When you lose your children, when you lose the person dearest to you, how will your feeling be?” He said.
“WE ARE TRAPPED”
More than half of Gaza’s 2.3 million people have crowded into Rafah, seeking refuge from the Israeli offensive that has devastated much of the Gaza Strip over the past six months.
Israel is threatening a ground offensive in the area, where Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said fighters from the militant group Hamas must be eliminated to ensure Israel’s victory in the war.
President Joe Biden urged Israel not to launch a large-scale offensive in Rafah to avoid further Palestinian civilian casualties.
Palestinian health authorities say more than 34,000 people have been killed in the Israeli assault, which began after Hamas fighters attacked Israel on October 7, killing around 1,200 people and kidnapping 253 others, according to Israeli tallies.
The Palestinian Health Ministry said Sunday that Israeli military strikes have killed 48 Palestinians and wounded 79 others in the Gaza Strip in the past 24 hours.
The Palestinian Civil Emergency Service said teams recovered 60 bodies from Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, in the south of the enclave, weeks after Israeli army forces withdrew from the medical complex. This brought the number of bodies dug up in hospital courtyards since April 12 to 210.
The service said in a statement that there are still around 2,000 people missing under the rubble in Khan Younis and 1,000 in the central areas of the Gaza Strip, whose bodies could not be extracted due to a lack of heavy equipment and machinery.
for removing rubble.
The Israeli military had no immediate comment.
In the larger of the two Palestinian territories, the Israeli-occupied West Bank, Israel said its soldiers opened fire on three Palestinians who attacked them, and the Palestinian Health Ministry said all three died. Violence has flared in the West Bank in recent days.