Gazan children orphaned by war suffer as war continues

Palestinian men and children gather for a demonstration in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on January 30, 2024, calling for continued international support to UNRWA. (File/AFP)

• With entire families in Gaza nearly wiped out, medics and rescuers struggle to find caregivers for bereaved children

LONDON: Amid the horrors of Israel’s war on Gaza, a one-month-old baby girl born during the violence lies alone in an incubator.
Her mother Hanna was killed in an Israeli airstrike, giving birth via Caesarean section without ever holding her child.
"We just call her the daughter of Hanna Abu Amsha," Warda al-Awawda, a nurse who is caring for the newborn at the al-Aqsa Hospital, told the BBC.
Children, who make up nearly half of Gaza's population of 2.3 million, have had their lives shattered by the brutal war, the BBC reported.
Despite Israel's claims of avoiding civilian casualties, more than 11,500 children have been killed according to Palestinian health officials. Many more have sustained serious, often life-altering injuries
With entire families in Gaza nearly wiped out, medics and rescuers frequently struggle to find caregivers for bereaved children.
"We have lost contact with her family. "None of her relatives have shown up and we don't know what happened to her father,” al-Awawda,
A report from the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor suggests that over 24,000 children have lost one or both parents.
The toll is evident in stories like that of 10-year-old Ibrahim Abu Mouss, who suffered severe leg and stomach injuries from a missile strike that killed his mother, grandfather, and sister.
"They kept telling me they were being treated upstairs in the hospital," Ibrahim told the BBC as his father clutches his hand.
"But I found out the truth when I saw photos on my dad's phone. I cried so much that I hurt all over."
The cousins of the Hussein family used to play together but now sit quietly beside the sandy graves near a converted school-shelter in central Gaza, graves that hold some of their relatives. Each cousin has endured the loss of either one or both parents.
"The missile fell on my mum's lap and her body was torn into pieces. For days we were taking her body parts from the rubble of the house," Abed Hussein, who lived in al-Bureij refugee camp, said
"When they said that my brother, my uncle and my whole family were killed I felt like my heart was bleeding with fire," he added.
The trauma leaves him sleepless, haunted by the memories and ongoing shelling.
"When my mum and dad were alive, I used to sleep but after they were killed, I can't sleep any more. I used to sleep next to my dad," he explained.
Life for Abed and his two surviving siblings, now in their grandmother's care, is immensely challenging.
"There's no food or water," he says. "I have a stomach ache from drinking sea water."
Similarly, Kinza Hussein mourns her father, who was killed by a missile while attempting to procure flour for bread. The distressing sight of his lifeless body, brought back for burial, haunts her.
"He had no eyes, and his tongue was cut," she remembers.
"All we want is for the war to be over," she says. "Everything is sad."
Nearly everyone in Gaza now relies on aid handouts for the basics of life.
UN reports indicate that about 1.7 million Palestinians in the strip are displaced, many in constant search for safety.
However, United Nations Children's Fund highlights the plight of approximately 19,000 children now orphaned or alone.
"Many of these children have been found under the rubble or have lost their parents in the bombing of their home," Jonathan Crickx, chief of communications for UNICEF Palestine, told the BBC. Others have been found at Israeli checkpoints, hospitals and on the streets.
"The youngest ones very often cannot say their name and even the older ones are usually in shock so it can be extremely difficult to identify them and potentially regroup them with their extended family."
Even when relatives can be found, they are not always well placed to help care for bereaved children.
Relatives, when located, often struggle to care for these children due to their own challenging circumstances. SOS Children's Villages, collaborating with UNICEF has stepped in to care for 55 such children under 10, offering psychological support. One striking case is a four-year-old girl with selective mutism, an anxiety disorder which left her unable to speak about , now slowly recovering in their care.
Since the war started, a non-profit organization, SOS Children's Villages, which works locally with Unicef, says it has been working to take in 55 such children, all aged under 10. It has employed additional specialist staff in Rafah to give psychological help.
A senior SOS staff member tells me about a four-year-old who had been left at a checkpoint. She was brought in with selective mutism, an anxiety disorder which left her unable to speak about what had happened to her and her family, but is now making progress after being welcomed with gifts and playing with other children she lives with.
UNICEF estimates that nearly all children in Gaza require mental health support. Even with a lasting ceasefire, the deep scars and losses endured will challenge their ability to rebuild their lives.