Baby rescued from dying mother’s womb after Israeli airstrike on Gaza city of Rafah, named after her

A newborn baby who was still in the womb when his mother was murdered by to the Israeli airstrike in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, was doing well on Monday after being transferred to a new hospital in the war-torn Palestinian enclave. The baby’s mother, Sabreen, along with her father Shoukri and her three-year-old sister Malak, were killed in the attack. Her aunt named the baby Sabreen Erooh, meaning “soul of Sabreen,” after her mother.

“We tried to rescue the patient,” Dr. Ahmad Fawzi, a doctor at a nearby hospital, told British broadcaster Sky News. “We realized she was pregnant. We had to do an emergency C-section to save the baby. Thank God we managed to save the baby.”

Unnamed at the time, the baby was initially given a tag on his tiny arm that read: “The baby of martyr Sabreen al Sakani.”

Her uncle has said he will look after her from now on, Sky News reported.

Two Israeli strikes on Saturday in Rafah killed at least 22 people, mostly children, the Associated Press news agency said, citing officials at the nearby Kuwaiti hospital, which received the wounded. The first blow killed the baby’s family. The second killed 17 children and a woman, the AP reported.

“These children were sleeping. What did they do? What was their fault?” said a family relative, Umm Kareem. “Pregnant women at home, children sleeping, the husband’s aunt is 80 years old. What did this woman do? Did she fire missiles? We complain about our worries before God.”

The baby was transferred from Kuwait Hospital to Emirati Hospital for continued care.

More than half of Gaza’s 2.3 million residents have sought refuge in Rafah from the fighting ravaging other parts of the Gaza Strip. Israel has carried out almost daily airstrikes in the area and vowed to expand its ground offensive there to attack Hamas combat units that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says are still in the city.

“In the coming days, we will increase political and military pressure on Hamas because it is the only way to recover our hostages and achieve victory,” Netanyahu said in a statement on Sunday. “We will soon deal more painful blows to Hamas.”