'I made the sign of victory for Siwar': Mother's relief as malnourished Gaza baby evacuated to Jordan
The cry was frail but I could hear Siwar Ashour even before she was carried out of the coach. It was the cry of a voice that won't give up, of a child born in this war and who has now, for a while at least, managed to escape it.In person six-month-old Siwar is tinier than any visual image can convey. She weighs 3kg (6.6lb) but should be twice that. Her mother, Najwa, 23, smiled as she described her feelings on crossing into Jordan on Wednesday, when her daughter was evacuated from Gaza with other Palestinian children. The first thing she noticed was the quiet."It feels like there is a truce," she told me. "We will spend our night without rockets and bombing with God's will."Siwar was also accompanied by her grandmother Reem and her father Saleh who is blind."The first and last goal of this trip is Siwar," said Saleh. "We want to get her to a safe shore. I want to make sure she is safe and cured. She's my daughter, my own flesh and blood. And I'm so deeply worried about her."
It was Reem who carried Siwar off the bus onto Jordanian soil, forming her fingers into a V sign as she came."Until now I can't believe that I have arrived in Jordan. I saw King's Abdullah's photo at the border and I felt so happy I got off the bus and made the sign of victory…for the sake of Siwar."Back in April when the BBC first filmed Siwar at Nasser hospital in southern Gaza, her mother and doctor said she was suffering from malnutrition because the special milk formula she needed could not be found in sufficient quantity. Her body was emaciated. Najwa said then she could not breastfeed Siwar because she herself was suffering from malnutrition. Tins of milk formula were found and delivered by the Jordanian Field hospital and by private fundraisers. But with an Israeli blockade on aid, which was partially eased three weeks ago, and an escalating military offensive it was clear Siwar's condition needed more comprehensive testing and treatment.In a deal announced between King Abdullah and US President Donald Trump in February, Jordan offered to bring 2000 seriously ill children to Amman for treatment. Gaza's devastated medical system cannot cope with the level of sickness and war wounded. Since March, 57 children along with 113 family escorts have been evacuated. Sixteen children came on Wednesday, including Siwar.Cradled in her grandmother's arms, Siwar stared with her large eyes at the unfamiliar crowds of police, medical workers, and journalists gathered on the border.
She was taken to an air conditioned hall where Jordanian medics handed out drinks and food to the children. There was peace and plenty.What was most obvious was the exhaustion of parents and children alike. In several months of covering these evacuations this latest was the most striking in terms of a sense of communal trauma. All of these families know what it is to be driven from one area to another by Israeli evacuation orders, or to queue for hours in the hope of finding food. If they have not experienced death in their family, they will definitely know friends or relatives who have been killed.Families are often separated by conflict as parents search for food or medical treatment. One day Najwa took Siwar to hospital and that was the last time husband Saleh was with them for two months."I thought she would be gone for just three or four days and then come back, a simple treatment and she'd return," he recalled. "But I was shocked that it dragged on and took so long…and eventually I realised that her condition is very serious and difficult."
We travelled from the border to Amman with Siwar and her family. Najwa is pregnant and fell into a deep sleep. Siwar remained awake in her grandmother's arms. On the same ambulance were two boys suffering from cancer, along with their mothers and two younger siblings. One of the siblings, a boy of four, cried constantly. He was tired and scared.After an hour we reached Amman and Siwar was transferred into the arms of a nurse and then to another ambulance. Over the next few days she will be tested and given the kind of treatment that is simply impossible under current conditions in Gaza. And her mother, father and grandmother - those who watch over her - will sleep without fear.WIth additional reporting by Alice Doyard, Suha Kawar, Mark Goddard and Malaak Hassouneh.
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