Starvation, malnutrition and siege. How did the genocide affect pregnant women and infants in Gaza?


A human rights report by Human Rights Watch documents the horrific testimonies of women from the Gaza Strip narrating their suffering and the consequences of the war on their bodies and lives, and points to the danger that pregnant Palestinian women suffer from, which also affects the lives of newborns, not only from bombs and shelling, but also from starvation, malnutrition and blockade.

Among them is Shaima Suhail Abu Jazar, who survived the Israeli genocidal war on Gaza but lost three of her children, Mohammed and Janan, and Abdullah, who was stillborn, with only four minutes left in her arms, in which she hugged him before medical staff took him for burial. She also lost her husband, Abdullah, and only her son Hudhaifa and daughter Mariam survived with her.

Shaima tells her story from a hospital in Qatar, describing the shell that pierced her foot while she was pregnant, and how she miraculously survived. But the suffering does not end with a survival, as confirmed by the report of the international rights organization, which cited Al-Shahad in a 50-page report entitled “Five Children in One Incubator: Violations of the Rights of Pregnant Women during the Israeli Offensive on Gaza.”

The report addresses the Israeli blockade of Gaza and attacks on health facilities in the Strip, describing their grave danger, asserting that it “threatens women’s lives during pregnancy, during and after childbirth, and concludes that “the illegal blockade imposed by Israeli forces on the Gaza Strip, their severe restrictions on humanitarian aid, and their attacks on medical facilities and health care workers have directly harmed women during pregnancy, during childbirth and in the postpartum period.”

The Human Rights Watch report stops at the Israeli war of extermination on Palestinians in Gaza, which led to more than 50,000 martyrs, and statistics show that the majority of Palestinian martyrs are women and children (70%), and estimates indicate that thousands more are under the rubble, not to mention the wounded.



Source link