Palestinians in Rafah are recovering from a series of devastating Israeli airstrikes that have killed 22 people, including 18 children.
The last 48 hours, horrible even for from gaza standards, are an indicator of what can follow in any Israeli Rafah offensive.
Doctors told the Sky News team in Gaza how they saved the life of an unborn baby even as his mother lay dying from head injuries.
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“We tried to rescue the patient,” said Dr. Ahmad Fawzi.
“We realized she was pregnant.
“We had to do an emergency cesarean section to save the baby.
“Thank God we managed to save the baby.”
The Palestinian girl was saved from her mother’s womb. Photo: Reuters
The girl lies in an incubator.
He has no name, but he has a piece of tape in his hand with an inscription that reads: “The baby of the martyr Sabreen al Sakani.”
The baby’s mother Sabreen, his father Shoukri and his three-year-old sister Malak were killed in the Israeli airstrike.
Her uncle says he will take care of her now.
The Palestinian girl was saved from her mother’s womb. Photo: Reuters
Also in Rafah, another airstrike killed 17 children and two women, all from the same family, Palestinians say.
There were heartbreaking scenes at the hospital as relatives mourned as the children were placed in body bags.
A relative, Umm Kareem, told how the children were killed while they slept in their beds, saying: “These children were sleeping. What did they do? What was their fault?”
“Pregnant women at home, children sleeping, the husband’s aunt is 80 years old.
“What did this woman do? Did she fire missiles? We complained about our worries to God.”
The attacks, all in Rafah, have sparked unusually harsh criticism of Israel from the UK government.
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Families mourn children killed in airstrike
Lord Ahmad, foreign secretary for the Middle East, tweeted that he was “horrified by the Israeli attack on a residential apartment in densely populated Rafah, Gaza, resulting in the deaths of more children.”
“We must stop this fighting immediately and end this conflict,” he added.
But there is no end in sight. Quite the opposite.
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In an address to the nation before Passover, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu used language from the Bible to hint at what could happen to Rafah.
The enemy, he said, is “hardening his heart and refusing to let our people go.”
“Therefore, we will give him additional painful blows, and this will happen soon,” he added.
Israel’s government says it must take the fight to Hamas in Rafah to recover its hostages and destroy the enemy, but far more civilians than Hamas fighters are dying in this war.
Rafah is the most densely populated area of Gaza. And when the offensive begins here, many more will die.