The 2-year-old toddler lay on a foil blanket, her face smeared with salve for her burns and her tiny physique marked with shrapnel scars.
As medical doctors examined her and the tube in her chest, she squirmed, her breath coming in ragged gasps.
Siwar Abdel-Hadi is now an orphan, the only real survivor of an Israeli strike that devastated her household house in central Gaza, killing her mother and father, two sisters, a brother and her maternal uncle.
“The whole family was gathered around a table for lunch” when the missile struck Tuesday within the Bureij refugee camp, stated Nour Abdel-Hadi, one among Siwar’s paternal aunts.
She spoke at close by Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah, the place overwhelmed employees rushed round coping with an inflow of wounded.
Israel’s genocidal marketing campaign of bombardment and offensives in Gaza has left 1000’s of orphans.
Cases like Siwar’s have develop into so widespread that medical doctors have created an acronym for it: WCNSF, which means “wounded child, no surviving family.”
The United Nations estimated in February that round 17,000 youngsters within the territory are unaccompanied, and the quantity is probably going increased now.
The Israeli navy not often feedback on particular person strikes.
On the day of the strike that killed Siwar’s household, the Israeli navy claimed it hit dozens of targets throughout the Gaza Strip, together with Hamas constructions, statement posts and particular person members.
Israel says it’s decided to destroy Hamas following the group’s Oct. 7 assault on southern Israel.
Its marketing campaign has killed greater than 39,100 folks, largely ladies and kids, based on native well being authorities and with an unknown proportion among the many practically 10,000 but to be recognized.
Doctors typically report that youngsters represent a big portion of the wounded arriving at hospitals.
At Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza, one other orphaned little one was recovering from her wounds.
Weeks in the past, 3-month-old Asma Ajour’s household was fleeing their neighborhood in Gaza City after Israeli navy evacuation orders and an offensive.
As the household fled, Israeli shelling struck the road, killing Asma’s mom, father and two sisters, ages 3 and 5, stated Asma’s grandmother, Basema Qwedar.
Asma lay on the street in her useless mom’s arms for 12 hours till her grandfather, looking for them, heard her cries and located her, Qwedar stated, rocking the toddler in a baby’s seat on the hospital.
Two of Qwedar’s sons have been killed by strikes earlier within the struggle, and now she has misplaced her daughter, Asma’s mom.
They don’t but know who will soak up Asma, however Qwedar stated her daughter had instructed her, “If something happens to me, take care of my child.”
At Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, Siwar’s prolonged household was equally attempting to determine tips on how to take her in.
Her grandparents are alive however unwell and should not be capable to elevate her, Nour Abdel-Hadi stated.
Otherwise, one among her aunts will take her, however they’re combating their very own youngsters amid shortages of meals and provides as a consequence of Israel’s siege.
The Abdel-Hadis have been a close-knit, loving household, kin stated.
The mother and father, Hisham Abdel-Hadi and Hedaia Yasin, ensured their youngsters acquired excessive grades.
As the youngest, Siwar was showered with toys, they stated.
They had fled their house thrice throughout Israel’s assaults to flee frequent bombardments in central Gaza, however every time returned, most just lately in May.
Israel “didn’t leave anything for Siwar – no father, mother or siblings. Even her toys and bed are gone,” Nour Abdel-Hadi stated, sobbing.
Doctors stated they have been treating Siwar for second-degree burns on her face, shrapnel wounds and collapsed lungs.
“God give us the capability to raise her,” stated one other aunt, Amal Abdel-Hadi. “May she live a dignified life, play among other children, and not endure any more of the bombing, missiles and deprivation she has already experienced.”
Source: www.dailysabah.com