A Magic Baby Born In Gaza After Israeli Air Attack Kills His Old Pregnant Mother

Gaza/DOK UNRWA

JAKARTA - When she was nine months pregnant, Ola Al-Kurd couldn't wait to carry her baby and bring a new life to Gaza during the war that killed more than 39,000 Palestinians and destroyed most of the area.

But that special moment never came.

Israeli airstrikes hit a family home in Al-Nuseirat in central Gaza on July 19, according to his father Adnan Al-Kurd.

The explosion made Ola fall several floors to death inside the house, whose occupants included women, children, and parents.

However, the baby survived, as did her husband who was hospitalized.

"It is a miracle that the fetus remains alive in him when he is martyred," said Adnan Al-Kurd while reflecting on a photo of his daughter's graduation.

The explosion, like many other explosions, killed several family members, the daily tragedy in Gaza since Israel began its attack on Gaza in response to a devastating cross-border attack by Palestinian Hamas militants on October 7 last year.

Mediators from the United States, Qatar and Egypt have failed in various efforts to reach a ceasefire.

So it is unlikely that the airstrikes and Israeli shootings will end in the near future.

"He wants to carry his son and fill our house with his presence," said Al-Kurd.

"He will say, 'Mom, hopefully this can replace the loss of my martyred brothers and bring life back to our homes'," said Al-Kurd.

Against all obstacles, surgeons at Al Awda hospital in Nuseirat where Ola was first treated after the attack managed to give birth to a baby namedCY Yassin.

He was then transferred to Al Aqsa Hospital in Deir al-Balah, where his aunt touched the baby's face as he lay in the incubator.

"Alhamdulillah, this baby's life was saved and he is now alive and well," said doctor Khalil Al-Dannyan at the hospital, where many medical facilities were destroyed for more than nine months of war.

Al-Kurd looks at a photo of his three children who died in the Gaza war. He said Yassin's baby had cerebral hair like his late uncle Omar.

"I go to visit him every day. He is part of me," he said.

The babies who survived the Israeli bombing did not receive help as the conflict caused more damage to the densely populated Gaza Strip.

"We actually face enormous difficulties in the care of the baby," said Al-Dannyan.

Hospitals in Gaza were destroyed or badly damaged during the war, which began when Hamas-led fighters attacked Israel, killing 1,200 people and holding more than 250 people hostage according to Israeli tally.

Israel retaliated with air and landstrikes that have killed more than 39,000 Palestinians, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry, and razed most coastal areas.

"What is the fault of this child who started his life in a difficult and very bad situation, without getting the most basic necessities of life?" said Dakran.