Al-Shifa babies are fine and okay in Egypt … let’s bring the rest of the premature babies from Gaza to safety

Many people have asked about the recent updates on the Al-Shifa premature babies in Egypt, and I have great news for you: they are okay, safe, and on the road to recovery from the challenges they've faced.

How do I know this? Thankfully, a team from the World Health Organization (WHO) led by Robert Holden, WHO emergency coordinator, visited the Administrative Capital Hospital on the outskirts of Cairo to assess the babies earlier in December.

There are currently 12 premature babies at the Administrative Capital Hospital. They were airlifted from Al-Arish due to their critical condition. Thankfully, they began to recover especially from malnourishment.

According to doctors at the Emirati Field Hospital in South Gaza, where the babies were transferred before heading to Egypt, most of the infants experienced severe hypoglycemia—a potentially life-threatening condition due to insufficient blood sugar levels. This resulted from their inability to consume an adequate amount of milk.

The most recent photo of the famous premature baby from Al-Shifa Hospital as
released by WHO at the administrative capital hospital in Cairo in early December

Ironically, during the visit, Dr Brennan identified our favourite baby, Rana, as a boy instead of a girl—the daughter of Rana. This revelation left me feeling a bit bewildered especially Palestinian doctors and journalists affirm that the baby is a girl.

Regardless of the baby's gender, what truly matters is what the WHO official said about the challenging start in life that the baby endured, having lost both parents and an eye.

Dr Richard Brennan, WHO Regional Emergency Director, was part of the WHO team that today visited Cairo Administrative Capital Hospital in #Egypt, where 12 of the infants who had been evacuated from Al-Shifa Hospital in north #Gaza are currently under care. pic.twitter.com/SV9XIXdUx3

— WHO Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean (@WHOEMRO) December 9, 2023

Personally, I hold onto the belief that miracles can happen, and we might discover a relative, perhaps a surviving parent or uncle, for this baby. Maybe a loving family will step forward to adopt the child, providing the warmth and care that the biological parents couldn't.

Additionally, there's the possibility that someone could donate their cornea after passing away, offering a potential solution for the baby's lost eye.

The baby faced a challenging beginning in life, but against all odds, has managed to overcome adversity thus far. Much like other premature babies, this little one not only defied a hostile environment intent on harming them but also a world that often refuses to recognize their humanity.

Here is yet another poignant story—a baby who, as it turns out, had a twin brother with underdeveloped lungs who tragically did not survive the journey out of Gaza.

Robert Holden, WHO emergency coordinator, today met some of the babies that he and WHO staff helped evacuate from Al-Shifa Hospital in north #Gaza on 19 November as part of a WHO-led mission. The babies, now in #Egypt, have shown incredible resilience, and are recovering well. pic.twitter.com/uTWufNXzVJ

— WHO Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean (@WHOEMRO) December 9, 2023

 

Those babies embarked on a harrowing journey from North to South Gaza, and from there, they entered another country without their parents. Even those fortunate enough to have one or both parents alive travelled alone, accompanied only by three Palestinian nurses to Al-Arish.

Dr Robert Holden carrying a baby from the Al-Shifa Premature Babies in Cairo

The six known mothers couldn't secure approval from Israel to cross the borders and reunite with their babies in Egypt.

Israel maintains a strict process of reviewing and approving the names of Palestinians or even foreign citizens attempting to leave the besieged strip. This precaution is driven by concerns that individuals may be relatives of Hamas members.

That is why a mother like 20-year-old Sawsan Abu Odeh had to wait for weeks to see her twin daughters Rateel and Raseel in Egypt.

Susan, 20, gave birth to twin girls in Al-Shifa Hospital in north #Gaza on 13 October. That was the last time she saw them. She fled as the hospital came under attack and was only able to see her babies again just two days ago. “This war must end,” she sobbed. pic.twitter.com/8PMHExwRCz

— WHO Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean (@WHOEMRO) December 9, 2023

There is also baby Ayman, whose parents, Huthufia and Noor, embarked on a challenging journey to ensure the survival of their prematurely born baby on October 6. Huthufia had the opportunity to see his son at the Emirati Field Hospital before the little baby would go to Egypt.

Additionally, there are twin sisters, Leen and Bayan, whose mother, Nour, accompanied them to Egypt, as reported by NPR. The little twin sisters were born on October 4.

Leen, Bayan, Rateel, Raseel, Mera, and Dahab are not the only set of twin girls in their group; Mera and Dahab's mom, Ayat, gave birth to them five days into the war at Al-Shifa Hospital. She did not see them for 39 days and only saw them at Rafah before they headed to Egypt.

There are quite a few sets of twins in our small community of Al-Shifa Hospital premature babies mashallah.

The premature babies are well-fed at the Cairo hospital and begin to grow as they should

By the way, there are still three babies from Al-Shifa babies who are still in Gaza including little Anas who is also fine. I hope he is safe along with his family as they are still in danger.

Per the UNRWA, since October 7th, Gaza has seen 19,453 Palestinian fatalities, 70% being women and children. Additionally, 291 Palestinians, including 75 children, have been killed in the West Bank.

Newborns in Gaza are not receiving vaccinations. Unfortunately, children are unable to get timely vaccinations since most hospitals and clinics are out of service. Additionally, there is a lack of vaccines in the strip, as reported by the Palestinian Ministry of Health (PMOH), stating that there are no more vaccines available.

Just from three months ago vaccine coverage in the occupied Palestinian territories was almost 100%. In the last 3 months, children have not been able to receive vaccination according to the WHO Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean “EMRO”.

According to the latest statements released by WHO EMRO, there are no fully functioning hospitals in Gaza right now.

The numbers of the WHO, not the numbers of the PMOH 23 hospitals are completely out of service and need to be fixed.

There are 9 hospitals; all in the South of Gaza; that are partially functioning. 

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs “OCHA” stated that these hospitals are operating at three times their capacity while facing critical shortages of basic supplies and fuel.

The PMoH says that occupancy rates are now reaching 206 per cent in inpatient departments and 250 per cent in intensive care units.

There are 4 hospitals at minimum functioning in the North.

I do not know if Al-Nasser Hospital in Khan Younes is among those hospitals or not, but I know that in another deliberate act, the Israeli army shelled the maternity ward of Al-Nasser Medical Complex last week.

This attack killed a 12-year-old girl called Donia Abu Mohsen.

Late Donia by Amr Tabash

Donia was displaced from North Gaza due to Israeli shelling, and tragically, she lost both her parents and a leg in another early Israeli bombardment.

She was waiting her turn to be treated in Egypt.

12-year-old Dunia lost her leg in an Israeli airstrike that killed her whole family.

We filmed this video with Dunia during the seven-day truce, and yesterday an Israeli tank-fired shell killed her while she was recovering in Naser Hospital in Khan Younis. pic.twitter.com/RDD3EyLpmj

— Defense for Children (@DCIPalestine) December 18, 2023

You must see this compilation of videos filmed shortly following the Israeli shelling on Nassr Hospital on 17 December. One of the video clips was filmed by famous Palestinian content creator Saleh Al Jafarawi. 

It brought to mind the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) targeting of El-Shifa Hospital. Before the forBeforeending storming, El-Shifa Hospital converted its maternity ward to cater to the injured, transferring the maternity services to Al-Hilo Hospital in the center of Gaza.

In November, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported that Al-Hilo Hospital was struck by Israeli shelling.

Discussing newborns, maternity wards, or pregnant women compels me to underscore the deliberate targeting by the Israeli Occupation Forces of Gaza's leading gynaecologists, Bgynaecologistssef Mahdi.

This heinous act took place at their specialized maternity hospital in a direct shelling incident in November.

Basil Mahdi gained widespread recognition in the Arab world when his final Facebook post, expressing frustration at the Arab world's silence, went viral after he, along with his family and patients, tragically lost their lives.

“No one dies before his time but some people will die without dignity or humanity or principle.

How can I say it deliberate act!? Because the Israeli Occupation Army has its own version of the Palestinian registry, and they know everyone in Gaza. Ironically the babies who were born at least two months ago are not mentioned in that registry.

Back to the situation of hospitals, maternity wards, and neonatal units in Gaza.

This means that there are no more functioning neonatal units in Gaza technically. Premature babies’ survival will be miraculous this winter.

According to WHO, those hospitals are providing extremely limited services to patients who have already been admitted. These hospitals are not accessible and are unable to admit new patients, Israeli tanks and troops are surrounding their vicinities, and the hospitals do not have electricity or supplies.

It is estimated that there are currently around 50,000 pregnant women in Gaza, and around 160 children are born every day according to WHO.

There were estimations that there were about 130 premature babies in Gaza including Al-Shifa Hospital’s premature babies who made it to Egypt safely.

As nearly more than half of the Palestinian population in Gaza is sheltering at the UNRWA facilities aka UNRWA schools, in early November the Palestinian Refugees UN organization estimated that there are 4,600 displaced women and about 380 newborn babies.

Palestinian women undergo C-sections without anaesthesia. Can you imagine the pain?

All the above screams explicitly that we are in desperate need of unconditional ceasefire as soon as possible but realistically speaking, it seems that we won’t see a ceasefire so at least let the pregnant women as well as the newborns stay in Al-Arish till this human tragedy war ends.

According to WHO officials the new Administrative Capital Hospital; inaugurated just 6 months ago, is well-equipped and prepared to soon receive adults from Gaza suffering from war-related injuries.

The WHO officials also added that Egypt assigned over 30 hospitals nationwide to receive injured from Gaza.

It is great news but when those injured adults as well as children will come to fill those hospitals in addition to those field hospitals in Al-Arish city in North Sinai!?

According to the Palestinian officials in Gaza, only about 12 to 16 injured Palestinian cases are allowed by Israel to cross Rafah border crossing daily.

The narrative doesn't conclude with the premature babies at Al-Shifa Hospital of Gaza; they evoke the memory of another Palestinian infant born 2023 years ago in the West Bank. The birth of this child angered a dictator with a powerful army, compelling him to pursue all infants in Palestine. The sole option for the baby's mother was to take him and find refuge in Egypt until the dictator passed away.

Inshallah, those premature babies will return to Gaza and make history like this man.

Merry Christmas.