Baby girl saved from dy... - Financial Unions

A baby girl saved from her dying mother's womb after an Israeli air strike has become one of the youngest victims of the war in Gaza.

She was called Sabreen, which means patience in Arabic, after her mother. Her middle name was Al-Rouh, which means my soul, and was the name her 3-year-old sister Malak wanted to give her.

Born ten weeks early, she'd been delivered via C-section as her mother lay dying in a Rafah hospital last weekend. Her parents, Shukri and Sabreen Joudeh, and her older sister all died as a result of blast that hit the family home they were staying in.

She lived for less than a week.

Her story of survival in those early days gripped the world, seen by many as a symbol of hope in times of conflict. Among those watching were her New Zealand-based relatives, who at first did not realise there was a family connection to the newborn.

But as the news unfolded, the Gouda family soon realised she was a cousin. The baby's father, was Abdullah Gouda's cousin's son, the same age as his eldest, Mohammed.

As he'd left Gaza when he was still young Mohammed's memories of that time are few. But he's been rocked at the news of first his cousin's death, and now their little baby.

"They have dreams and hopes like us, but we have all this. We can achieve, but they can't. Most they can dream of is food, and work," he told 1News. "I'm very hurt, it's very hard to think about sometimes, very heart-breaking. We are not really coping, just living as much as we can.

"[Baby Sabreen] could have grown up to be an amazing person, achieved a lot of things, but that's all gone."

He called on all those involved in the conflict to remember the humanity that's being lost as a result of their actions. "Try to look at the story from all point of views even if you have a different perspective, think of the innocent lives that are lost."

Abdullah Goudah spoke to 1News two days ago, when the baby was still alive. Having lost more than 100 members of his family already, even back then, Gouda was at a loss of how to describe his grief. "To be honest, what can we say? We've lost a lot of people,, and we are repeating the same words, they are tired, and we are tired."

He knows it's just life circumstances that has seen him, and his immediate family find safety in New Zealand, while the rest have remained in Gaza.

It's a place he'd loved to have called home, but as war continues knows there's no future there for his children.

"It's painful, because we should be there, as a doctor, I should be there, working."

Unable to cope with just sitting and watching, he left for the Middle East just hours after the interview. He plans to join an aid flotilla destined for Gaza.

The death toll in Gaza is in the tens of thousands. The Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza said it's surpassed 34,000 since the war began on October 7 - at least two-thirds are women and children.

Israel has said that it does not target civilians and that Hamas is hiding behind civilians.

The Israeli offensive there began as a result of the Hamas attack more than six months ago that saw 1200 Israelis and foreigners being killed, and more than 250 taken hostage.

But as its efforts to eradicate Hamas continue, the death toll in Gaza continues to mount. In a culture where Palestinian families often live in multi-generational homes, when a bomb falls on a house, as it did last weekend the toll per family is heavy.

The scenes of devastation shocking even to those like Save the Children's Sacha Myers who has spent years working in war and disaster zones.

"I can't tell you how many people have come up to me and said I've lost my entire family, I'm the only one left."