Friday, January 24, 2025

Babies of Gaza: Mostafa, son of Halima has a family and is recovering

Do you remember that baby from Al-Shifa Hospital’s premature babies in Gaza who lost his eye and his mom and arrived in Egypt alone to receive treatment?

Yes, it is him, and he is a cute little boy who was lucky to find his family after all.

Mostafa Qadoura in Gaza before evacuation and in Cairo after evacuation

His name is Mostafa Qadoura , the son of Halima Abd Rabou.

Babies of Gaza: Mostafa, son of Halima has a family and is recovering amazingly and happily.

When Mostafa Qadoura was just a week old, an Israeli airstrike on his home in northern Gaza’s Jabaliya in October 2013 launched him and his crib into the air.

Shrapnel pierced his right eye, damaging it beyond repair. Baby Mostafa was later found in his crib, meters away from the ruins of his home.

The strike killed his 4-year-old brother, Ayes, and severely injured his 22-year-old mother, Halima.

Mostafa was rushed to Al-Shifa Hospital’s neonatal unit but faced further medical challenges when the hospital itself came under shelling. Meanwhile, Halima was at another hospital in northern Gaza, where doctors were forced to amputate her leg. She also suffered life-altering injuries to her neck, chest, and eyes.

After being discharged, Halima moved into a large family home in Jabaliya. But tragedy struck again. As her son was being evacuated across borders to safety, an Israeli airstrike killed Halima, her 6-year-old son, Bassam, and 50 other family members on November 22, 2023.

The fate of Mostafa’s father remains unknown. Officially listed as missing, it is unclear whether his body has been recovered.

For a time, the remaining members of Mostafa’s family believed he had also perished—until his uncle stumbled upon a local news report mentioning an orphaned baby he suspected was Mostafa.

From October 7, 2023, to January 18, 2025, a staggering 17,861 children were killed, including 214 newborns who lost their lives shortly after birth during the genocide. Among these, 808 were infants under the age of one. Additionally, 12,316 women were killed, leaving behind 13,901 widows and 38,495 children who were orphaned or lost one parent, according to Gaza's Health Ministry.

The journey to evacuate Mostafa to Egypt was gruelling. 

Bilal Tabasi, a nurse accompanying Mostafa and other evacuees, described how they wrapped premature babies—who should have been in incubators—in blankets to keep them warm. Tragically, three babies died before reaching the Egyptian border.

When Mostafa arrived, he was malnourished, dehydrated, and battling an antibiotic-resistant bacterial infection in his shrapnel wounds. Despite his critical condition, he was transferred to the Administrative Capital Hospital in Cairo, where doctors worked tirelessly to save him.

The hospital director, Dr. Ramzy Mounir, later told journalists that Mostafa was the most critical case he had ever encountered.

Against all odds, Mostafa survived. In April, his grandmother, Amna Abd Rabou, was granted permission to travel from Gaza to Egypt to care for him. 

Photos and videos from August show Mostafa, then ten months old, happily moving around with his walker.

Little Mostafa moving around the ward with his walker at the Cairo hospital then "AP"

Their bond is heartwarming. 

Mostafa with his grandma Amna in Cairo last year "AP"

Mostafa adores his grandmother, while Amna pours all her love and emotions into him, finding solace in caring for him despite the unimaginable losses she has endured.

However, Mostafa’s journey is far from over.

He will require multiple surgeries to adjust his artificial eye as he grows.

In August, Mostafa and Amna flew to Malaysia to continue his treatment.

Mostafa and his grandma were warmly received in Malaysia, and I hope they return to Cairo soon after the surgeries.

Mostafa’s story over these ten months is nothing short of extraordinary. As a UNICEF official said when he met him as a baby, “That’s a very rough start to life to say the very very least.” Yet, despite everything, Mostafa has proven to be a true survivor—a remarkably tough little Palestinian cookie.

I still believe in miracles. The trip of Mostafa and his grandma is proof that miracles do exist.

3 comments:

  1. A genocide, And a victory. You are having a laugh. Stop aid. Return hostages.. Then fuck off

    ReplyDelete
  2. every 10 feet Hamas has planted an IED. In lamp-posts, every building is ready to explode. If you cared about children, you would not support this. You are supporting scum. By association..

    ReplyDelete
  3. Ho ho ho. Zeinoba the Hamas lover, is about to get them as neighbours. Hahaha. She can find out in person if they really do behead babies.. free the fucking hostages !

    ReplyDelete

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