Born during Israel’s genocide: Gaza’s child survivors bear the scars of war

Nour Abu Samaan was born on October 7, 2023, just three hours before the start of what would become a genocidal war on the Gaza Strip. Her arrival was met with joy by her mother, Samar Hammad, but that happiness lasted only a day. On October 8, as Nour rested in her mother’s arms, Israeli missiles struck nearby. The air thick with smoke and toxic gases, the newborn began to struggle for breath. Recommended Stories list of 4 items end of list “My daughter suddenly choked in my hands,” Samar told Al Jazeera Arabic. “Her colour turned blue, her eyes rolled back, and she lost all movement”. Doctors later diagnosed Nour with movement paralysis caused by the inhalation of toxic gases. At just two days old, Nour’s life shifted from a nursery to a hospital bed, beginning a heavy journey of pain. A miraculous escape Samar spent a month at al-Nasr Children’s Hospital in north Gaza, watching over her daughter in the intensive care unit (ICU) as the war closed in. North Gaza bore the brunt of Israel’s bombardment in the initial days of the war. Soon, the region was placed under a siege by the Israeli military, and people were forced to flee. As the siege intensified, Samar managed to evacuate Nour just before the hospital was bombed. She did not know then that her daughter would be the sole survivor of the deadly attack on al-Nasr Hospital , including the ICU. …