Gaza Hospital Says Newborn Saved From Dead Mother's Womb

Born in critical condition in Gaza, Malek Yassin was stabilized after receiving oxygen and medical attention, doctors said - AFP
Born in critical condition in Gaza, Malek Yassin was stabilized after receiving oxygen and medical attention, doctors said - AFP
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Gaza Hospital Says Newborn Saved From Dead Mother's Womb

Born in critical condition in Gaza, Malek Yassin was stabilized after receiving oxygen and medical attention, doctors said - AFP
Born in critical condition in Gaza, Malek Yassin was stabilized after receiving oxygen and medical attention, doctors said - AFP

Doctors in Gaza described delivering a newborn baby against incredible odds on Saturday, pulling him from his mother's womb moments after she died of wounds sustained in an Israeli air strike.

At nine months pregnant, Ola Adnan Harb al-Kurd managed to survive just long enough to reach Al-Awda Hospital in central Gaza after an overnight strike hit her home in the Nuseirat refugee camp, medics said.

Emergency department doctors rushed into action when they saw the heavily pregnant woman arrive in critical condition, the head of the obstetrics and gynaecology department, Raed al-Saudi, said.

She was taken to the operating room, but was already "almost dead", surgeon Akram Hussein told AFP.

Unable to save the mother, who they said was in her 20s, doctors detected a heartbeat and a team of obstetricians and surgeons was called.

"An emergency caesarean section was performed, and the foetus was extracted," Saudi said.

Kurd was among at least 30 people killed across the Gaza Strip in a punishing 24 hours of Israeli bombardment that killed six members of one family in a neighbourhood north of Gaza City, rescuers and medics in Hamas-run Gaza said.

At least seven people were killed in overnight strikes on the Nuseirat refugee camp, a civil defence spokesperson said.

Medical sources at Al-Awda Hospital said four children from Nuseirat were wounded while playing on a roof, with one requiring an amputation.

Kurd's husband was also wounded in the missile attack that hit their home, said surgeon Hussein.

After surviving the C-section, baby Malek Yassin faced further medical hurdles. Born in critical condition, he was stabilized after receiving oxygen and medical attention, Saudi said.

The war in Gaza has made childbirth increasingly perilous, with pregnant women facing near-daily strikes that hamper access to health facilities.

If they are able to reach a hospital, they find facilities that humanitarian groups say are stretched to breaking point.

Just 1,500 hospital beds are currently available to Gaza's more than two million people, compared with 3,500 beds before the war, UN agencies have said.

Al-Awda Hospital in Nuseirat is the only medical facility that has been able to provide obstetric and gynaecological care in central Gaza since the war began last year.

Pre-term deliveries and maternal complications, including eclampsia, haemorrhage and sepsis, have been rising, Doctors Without Borders said this week.



Israel Drafts Plan to Annex West Bank Settlements

An Israeli settlement in the West Bank. (Reuters)
An Israeli settlement in the West Bank. (Reuters)
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Israel Drafts Plan to Annex West Bank Settlements

An Israeli settlement in the West Bank. (Reuters)
An Israeli settlement in the West Bank. (Reuters)

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has backed calls from his ministers to impose Israeli sovereignty over the West Bank next year after US President Donald Trump takes office.

In recent private talks, Netanyahu said the issue of sovereignty in the West Bank should return to the agenda once Trump is in the White House, according to public broadcaster Kan.

This aligns Netanyahu with coalition members already pushing for such a move next year.

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, head of the National Religious Party - Zionism Party and holds a position within Israel’s Defense Ministry where he oversees the administration of the occupied West Bank and its settlements, said Monday that a Trump win would create a “key opportunity” for Israel to impose sovereignty.

“We were close to applying sovereignty to settlements in Judea and Samaria during Trump’s last term, and now it’s time to make it happen,” he said.

“2025: the year of sovereignty in Judea and Samaria,” Smotrich wrote on X, using the biblical name by which Israel refers to the occupied West Bank.

Far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir also welcomed Donald Trump’s victory, saying, “This is the time for sovereignty.”

Trump’s win has encouraged Israeli right-wing leaders to push for annexing and expanding West Bank settlements.

The plan to extend sovereignty over the Jordan Valley and West Bank settlements dates back to 2020, when Netanyahu sought Trump’s approval to move forward.

Kan reported that annexation plans are ready to be implemented.

In 2020, as part of Trump’s “Deal of the Century,” Deputy Prime Minister Yariv Levin’s team, working with US officials, prepared maps, regulations, and a draft government resolution, Kan said.

The plan includes access roads and potential expansion zones for each settlement.

The West Bank is home to around 144 official settlements and over 100 unofficial outposts, covering approximately 42% of the territory, including their jurisdictions. These areas house about 600,000 Israeli settlers.