Nour Abu Samaan was born on October 7, 2023, just three hours before the start of what has been described as a genocidal war on the Gaza Strip. Her mother, Samar Hammad, was overjoyed, but that happiness lasted only a day.
On October 8, as Nour rested in her mother's arms, Israeli missiles struck nearby. The air thick with smoke and toxic gases, the newborn began to struggle for breath. Samar told Al Jazeera Arabic: "My daughter suddenly choked in my hands. Her colour turned blue, her eyes rolled back, and she lost all movement."
Doctors diagnosed Nour with movement paralysis caused by inhaling toxic gases. At just two days old, her life shifted from a nursery to a hospital bed. Samar spent a month at al-Nasr Children's Hospital in north Gaza, watching over her daughter in the ICU as the war closed in. She managed to evacuate Nour just before the hospital was bombed.
Nour's father, Othman Abu Samaan, 42, watches his daughter with a heartbreak that time has not healed. The injury left Nour with severe stiffness in her limbs, more debilitating than partial paralysis. "We have tried repeatedly to make her sit, but she cannot," Othman said.
Official data from Gaza's Ministry of Health confirms a surge in such cases. Zaher al-Waheidi, head of the ministry's Information Unit, reported that 1,200 children in Gaza now suffer from spinal cord injuries and paralysis directly resulting from Israeli attacks. Six-month-old Misk al-Jarou was born with severe deformities, lacking clear joints in her hands and feet. Her mother, Warda al-Jarou, attributes this to constant inhalation of toxic gases during pregnancy.
The Ministry of Health recorded 322 cases of congenital defects in 2025 alone – double the pre-war rate. Al-Waheidi attributes this spike to famine, toxic exposure from millions of tonnes of projectiles, and the collapse of prenatal care.
Two years of relentless bombardment have triggered demographic shifts unseen in Gaza's history. Population growth has turned negative for the first time, hitting -1.3 percent. Birth rates plummeted by 38 percent in 2024 and a further 13 percent in 2025. In 2025, more than 4,000 women had premature deliveries, and at least 4,800 babies were born with low birth weights – double the pre-war figure. Tragically, 457 infants died in their first week of life last year alone.
In the corridors of the Mustafa Hafez school in western Gaza City, Ramez Abu Hajeela struggles to keep a medical pressure mask on his two-year-old son, Mohammed Abu Hajeela. On July 3, 2025, an Israeli strike hit the school shelter, killing 14 of Ramez's relatives. Mohammed emerged with third-degree burns covering 18 percent of his body. He must wear a compression mask for 20 hours a day.
Al-Waheidi warns that for children like Nour, Misk, and Mohammed, the only hope lies in immediate medical evacuation. Currently, some 4,000 children in Gaza require urgent treatment abroad. However, Israel has imposed heavy restrictions on movement through the Rafah crossing. According to the Health Ministry, more than 20,000 patients and wounded people are currently waiting to travel abroad for medical treatment. Since the crossing partially reopened in February, only 154 children have been allowed to leave. "Every day the Rafah crossing remains closed, we lose lives," al-Waheidi said. "More than 470 children have already died while waiting for a chance to be saved."
Source: www.aljazeera.com