Latest news with #Najwa
Yahoo
a day ago
- Health
- Yahoo
'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. 'Situation is dire' - BBC returns to Gaza baby left hungry by Israeli blockade 'No food when I gave birth': Malnutrition rises in Gaza as Israeli blockade enters third month Gaza now worse than hell on earth, humanitarian chief tells BBC
BBC News
a day ago
- Health
- BBC News
'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 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 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 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 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 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 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 additional reporting by Alice Doyard, Suha Kawar, Mark Goddard and Malaak Hassouneh.
Yahoo
25-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
'Situation is dire' - BBC returns to Gaza baby left hungry by Israeli blockade
There is no excitement as the camera passes. The children barely glance. What can surprise a child who lives among the dead, the dying, the waiting to die? Hunger has worn them down. They wait in queues for scant rations or for none at all. They have grown used to my colleague and his camera, filming for the BBC. He witnesses their hunger, their dying, and to the gentle wrapping of their bodies - or fragments of their bodies - in white shrouds upon which their names, if known, are written. For 19 months of war, and now under a renewed Israeli offensive, this local cameraman - who I do not name, for his safety - has listened to the anguished cries of the survivors in hospital courtyards. His physical distance is respectful, but they are on his mind, day and night. He is one of them, trapped in the same claustrophobic hell. This morning he is setting out to find Siwar Ashour, a five-month-old girl whose emaciated frame and exhausted cry at Nasser hospital in Khan Younis affected him so much, when he was filming there earlier this month, that he wrote to tell me something had broken inside him. She weighed just over 2kg (4lb 6oz). A baby girl of five months should be about 6kg or over. Siwar has since been discharged and is now at home, my colleague has heard. That is what brings him to the street of pulverised houses and makeshift shelters of canvas and corrugated iron. He conducts his search in difficult circumstances. A few days ago I messaged to ask how he was doing. "I am not okay," he replied. "Just a short while ago, the Israeli army announced the evacuation of most areas of Khan Younis… We don't know what to do - there is no safe place to go. "Al-Mawasi is extremely overcrowded with displaced people. We are lost and have no idea what the right decision is at this moment." He finds a one-bedroom shack, the entrance formed of a floral patterned, grey and black curtain. Inside there are three mattresses, part of a chest of drawers, and a mirror which reflects sunlight across the floor in front of Siwar, her mother Najwa and her grandmother, Reem. Siwar is quiet, held secure by the protective presence of the two women. The baby cannot absorb regular milk formula because of a severe allergic reaction. Under the conditions of war and an Israeli blockade on aid arrivals, there is a severe shortage of the formula she needs. Najwa, 23, explains that her condition stabilised when she was in Nasser hospital, so doctors discharged her with a can of baby formula several days ago. Now at home, she says the baby's weight has started to slip again. "The doctors told me that Siwar improved and is better than before, but I think that she is still skinny and hasn't improved much. They found her only one can of milk, and it [has] started running out." Flies dance in front of Siwar's face. "The situation is very dire," says Najwa, "the insects come at her, I have to cover her with a scarf so nothing touches her". Siwar has lived with the sound of war since last November when she was born. The artillery, the rockets, falling bombs - distant and near. The gunfire, the blades of Israeli drones whirring overhead. Najwa explains: "She understands these things. The sound of the tanks, warplanes, and rockets are so loud and they are close to us. When Siwar hears these sounds, she gets startled and cries. If she is sleeping, she wakes up startled and crying." Doctors in Gaza say many young mothers report being unable to breastfeed their babies due to lack of nutrition. The pressing problem is food and clean water. Najwa was malnourished herself when Siwar was born. She and her mother Reem still find it difficult to get anything to eat themselves. It is the struggle of every waking hour. "In our case, we can't provide milk or diapers because of the prices and the border closure." On 22 May Israeli military body Cogat said there was no food shortage in Gaza. It said "significant quantities of baby food and flour for bakeries" had been brought into the enclave in recent days. The agency has repeatedly insisted that Hamas steals aid, while the Israeli government says the war will continue until Hamas is destroyed and the Israeli hostages held in Gaza are released. According to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, 20 hostages seized by Hamas in the 7 October 2023 attacks are believed to be alive and up to 30 others dead. Aid agencies, the United Nations and many foreign governments, including Britain, reject Cogat's comment that there is no food shortage. US President Donald Trump has also spoken of people "starving" in Gaza. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres described the amount of aid Israel has allowed into Gaza as "a teaspoon". He said Palestinians were "enduring what may be the cruellest phase of this cruel conflict" with restricted supplies of fuel, shelter, cooking gas and water purification supplies. According to the UN 80% of Gaza is now either designated as an Israeli militarised zone or a place where people have been ordered to leave. The denials, the expressions of concern, the condemnations and the moments which seemed like turning points have come and gone throughout this war. The sole constant is the suffering of Gaza's 2.1 million people, like Najwa and her daughter Siwar. "One does not think about the future or the past," Najwa says. There is only the present moment and how to survive it. With additional reporting by Malak Hassouneh, Alice Doyard and Nik Millard. 'No food when I gave birth': Malnutrition rises in Gaza as Israeli blockade enters third month Chaos spreads as desperate Gazans wait for food to arrive Israeli strike kills nine of Gaza doctor's children
Yahoo
14-05-2025
- Yahoo
BBC cameraman haunted by Gaza's malnourished children captures Israeli strike on hospital
The war's horrors multiply. The dead, the pieces of the dead. The dying. The starving. More and more of them now – all the weight of human suffering witnessed by my brave colleagues in Gaza. The urge to avert our gaze can be overpowering. But the cameramen who work for the BBC cannot turn away, and on Tuesday one of them became a casualty himself. For their safety we do not reveal the names of our colleagues in Gaza. Our cameraman was not seriously wounded, but that was a matter of luck. The Israeli bombs launched into the car park of the European Hospital in Khan Younis killed and wounded dozens. The Israelis say the leader of Hamas was hiding in a command-and-control compound under the hospital. The army said it conducted a "precise strike" - and blamed Hamas for"cynically and cruelly exploiting the civilian population in and around the hospital". Hamas denies such charges. At the time of the attack, families whose sick children are to be evacuated from Gaza were gathering in the hospital. There were also families waiting to meet children returning from treatment abroad. One of the fathers was with our BBC colleague and was wounded by the bombs. He has now been discharged from hospital. Harrowing images show our journalist trying to console the man's terrified children. Warning: This report contains distressing images. Much of my colleague's work in recent days has focused on the plight of malnourished children. A short time before the blast, I messaged to thank him for his work filming, with immense sensitivity, the story of Siwar Ashour. This was his response: "Siwar's story broke something in all of us, and working on it was one of the most painful things I've ever had to do. But I knew her face, her name, and her story had to be seen – had to be heard." Siwar is five months old and acutely malnourished, a child whose large, brown eyes dominate her shrunken frame. They follow her mother Najwa's every move. On Tuesday Najwa sent us a video message from her room at Nasser Hospital in southern Gaza. She wanted the world to know how much she loves her child. "I wish she could receive the treatment she needs, to recover fully, and return as she was before – to play like other children, to grow and gain weight like other children. She is my first child, and as her mother, I'm deeply heartbroken for her." In the past few days Siwar has developed a skin infection. Sores have appeared on her hands. She also has a severe gastrointestinal condition. The battle is to keep nourishment inside her. Her immune system is fighting the deprivation caused by the Israeli blockade. The baby's cry is weak, yet it is full of urgency, the sound of a life struggling for its survival. Siwar can only drink a special milk formula due to severe allergies. On Tuesday there was some better news. Medics at the nearby Jordanian Field Hospital managed to find some of the formula she needs. It is a small amount but they plan to send more. In the coming days there are plans to bring sick children to the United Arab Emirates and Jordan. Here in Amman there are already several Gaza families who have children being treated for illness or war injuries in local hospitals. These evacuations are co-ordinated with the Israelis who do background checks on the parents travelling with their children. In January we filmed the arrival of Abdelrahman al-Nashash and his mum Asma. Abdelrahman lost his leg in an Israeli bombing. For four months they've lived in a place with food and shelter. A safe place. When we visited them on Tuesday Asma called her children and their grandmother in Gaza. Grandmother Najwa spoke of the war all around them. "The rockets are everywhere, firing over our heads. The food. Life is very bad. There is no flour. The prices are very high." The children waved and blew kisses to their mother. Afterwards, Asma told us: "I don't know what to say. I am very grateful for my mum for all she is doing for me. I wish I can return back to find them safe and in good health." She broke down and was silent. It is only through the eyes of a mother who sees her children trapped, frightened and hungry from a safe distance, that it is possible to imagine why anyone would want to go back to Gaza. With additional reporting by Alice Doyard, Suha Kawar and Nik Millard. Israel denying food to Gaza is 'weapon of war', UN Palestinian refugee agency head tells BBC Gaza parents desperate as children face starvation under Israeli blockade Entire Gaza population at critical risk of famine, UN-backed assessment says
Yahoo
14-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
A picture that shocked the world: the story behind baby Siwar Ashour
Siwar Ashour was born into war and hunger and has known nothing else. She is now in real danger of dying without ever having known a moment of peace or contentment. The six-month-old Palestinian girl, whose painfully emaciated body symbolised the deliberate starvation of Gaza when she appeared on the BBC this week, was only 2.5kg when she was born on 20 November last year. From birth, Siwar had a problem with her oesophagus that has made it hard for her to drink breast milk and left her dependent on specialised formula, which is in critically short supply. Her parents' home in al-Nuseirat, halfway up the coast on the Gaza Strip, was bombed earlier in the war, which began in October 2023 when Hamas killed 1,200 people in Israel, leading to an Israeli assault that has so far killed more than 52,000 people in Gaza. They lived in tents for a while but it was almost impossible to get food or water in the camp and it also came under Israeli fire. They tried going back to al-Nuseirat to stay at Siwar's grandparents' home, but that was bombed, too. All that was left of the building was a single room, which they shared with 11 other people. That was where Siwar was born. 'I was exhausted all the time. There was no privacy, and I couldn't get any rest,' said Najwa Aram, Siwar's 23-year-old mother. 'There was no food or proper nutrition, and when I gave birth to her, she was not like other babies.' 'When she was born, she was beautiful despite the weakness visible on her features,' she said. 'But now she is unnaturally thin. Babies her age are supposed to weigh 6kg or more – not just 2-4kg.' Najwa found out last month she was pregnant with her second child, but lives in terror of losing Siwar before her brother or sister is born. She has moved to Khan Younis to stay with her mother, but has spent most of the past few months in hospital with her frail daughter. Her husband, Saleh, is blind, and had to stay behind in al-Nuseirat. The relentless bombing has forced the family to move several times, like almost all families in Gaza, and has torn them apart. 'Even though Siwar's father is blind, he used to play with her a lot. He visited us in the hospital only once, as he cannot move without someone accompanying him,' Najwa said. 'He fears for her even more than I do – he is deeply attached to her.' The family has no source of income so relies on charity kitchens for food and some humanitarian aid, but that too is in desperately short supply as Israel's total blockade of Gaza approaches the 70-day mark. Philippe Lazzarini, the head of the UN relief agency, Unrwa, said this week: 'the manmade and politically motivated starvation in Gaza is an expression of absolute cruelty'. Najwa and her mother have a single sack of flour left, as well as a few tins. 'Once this runs out, we won't be able to buy anything due to the high prices,' Najwa said. Even more critically, supplies of the special milk formula that Siwar needs are harder and harder to find. 'I am also suffering from malnutrition. Still, I try to breastfeed Siwar, but she refuses and continues to cry, completely rejecting me,' Najwa said. 'That's why I've had to rely more on formula milk. When I used to breastfeed her, one can of formula would last a month. Now it runs out in less than a week.' Najwa and her daughter spent much of March in hospital in Deir al-Balah, where there was a milk formula that seemed to work, bringing Siwar's weight up to 4kg. 'I noticed that Siwar started to smile and play, which made me happy and gave me hope that her health might improve.' But that fragile moment of hope crumbled when they were discharged, and Siwar started losing weight again. She was referred to Nasser hospital in Khan Younis, where mother and daughter remain, for now. 'The doctors are doing everything they can to take care of her, but she also doesn't tolerate the formula they prepare for her,' Najwa said. 'The hospital situation is bad. There are six patients in each room. Everywhere you look, there is suffering. There's a child in worse condition than Siwar.' 'Seeing my daughter in this state every day gives me insomnia,' she said. 'I'm constantly anxious and overthinking. Sometimes I can't bear seeing her like this, and I start crying. I'm so afraid of losing her. Can't the world open the crossings to allow in milk, food, and medicine. All I want is for my daughter Siwar to live like the rest of the children in the world.' Dr Ahmed al-Farah, the director of the children's and maternity building at the Nasser medical complex, said between five and 10 new malnutrition cases are being recorded there every day. 'We're seeing severe cases. Malnutrition appears in children in a horrifying and extremely visible way,' Farah said. 'We have nothing to offer them. They need proteins, but there are none. We try to provide a little milk, perhaps powdered milk, but we can't offer anything more. 'On top of that, the severe overcrowding in hospitals leads to increased disease transmission among children,' he added. There is only enough fuel left at the Nasser complex to keep the generators going for another 48 hours. They have already had to shut off electricity on the administrative floors to make it last a little bit longer, but the power supply will soon have to be cut to the overcrowded patients' wards. 'We are helpless in the face of their needs – we cannot provide food, supplements, medication, or vitamins appropriate for their conditions,' the doctor said. 'I studied malnutrition in medical school textbooks. I used to think that study would remain theoretical, something we'd never see in real life. But now, those textbook descriptions have come to life before our eyes in Gaza,' Farah said. 'I call on the world to see us as human beings – we were created just like everyone else.'
