Pregnant Gaza Woman Fears Losing Another Child After Airstrike Killed Her Three Children

Alaa Hessi lives in a tent built over the ruins of her family home in Gaza, where an Israeli airstrike killed all three of her children. Now eight months pregnant, she is preparing to give birth again while struggling with grief, food shortages and the hardships of life amid the war.

Her children — Waseem, 10, Mohannad, 7, and Khawla, 5 — were killed when their home was destroyed. About a month before her new baby was due, Alaa continued her daily routine in the tent, cooking over an open fire, washing clothes by hand and walking to prenatal appointments because transportation is rarely available.

At temperatures reaching 34°C, the journey takes her through streets filled with rubble and insects. Her prenatal care is provided in a tent rather than a conventional medical facility.

Doctors have prescribed nutritional supplements, but Alaa says months of food shortages and deprivation have left her exhausted. Her husband buys small amounts of fruit and vegetables for her, often going without them himself.

The pregnancy has brought mixed emotions.

“I was happy that I would have a child, but I also cried constantly because I missed my children,” she said.

Alaa keeps some of her dead children's clothes in a blue backpack, hoping the new baby may eventually wear them. Among them are a Snoopy T-shirt, a hat and a football scarf that belonged to Waseem.

She and her brother worry about rats entering the crowded tent and damaging the clothes. She says what she wants most for the new baby is a safe place to sleep.

Alaa also spends evenings watching old videos of her children on a cracked smartphone. Their voices remind her of the life she once shared with them.

She says she and her husband are the only ones who fully understand each other's grief.

“Sometimes, fear controls me because I lost my children, and I’m afraid of losing my baby again,” she said. “I hope my new baby will live a better life ... and that he will be safe.”

Shortly after the Guardian report was published, Alaa gave birth to a healthy baby boy. She named him Waseem, after his older brother.

Source: The guardian