Latest news with #Alaa
Daily Mirror
7 days ago
- General
- Daily Mirror
Gaza baby triplets survive nightmare birth in warzone as starvation rages
WARNING: DISTRESSING CONTENT Gaza's latest baby triplets are seen as miracles amid the ongoing war - born into a world of mayhem and death after their brave mother dodged explosions to give birth Born in the world's most dangerous of birthplaces these tiny miracle warzone triplets offer a glimmer of hope amid the horrors of the Gaza war. Children die every day in the conflict-battered Strip but little girls Israa, Ayla and Aylol, despite being born underweight, are surviving. Just beyond their shelter the death toll in the Palestinian Strip is soaring towards the bloody milestone of 60,000, with 59,587 killed - another 62 dead on Thursday. This family is still in danger and loving mother Alaa, 31, says she was terrified of losing her girls as she and her husband fought to bring them into the world. She says: 'There were nights I went to sleep crying, not knowing if my daughters would still be alive in the morning or die. Two of my cousins had miscarriages this year – one lost her baby in the eighth month. I was sure I'd be next.' Alaa and her family – her husband Louay, 36, and their two children, 7-year-old Alma and 2-year-old Ahmed – have been displaced forcibly three times by the relentless Israeli bombing and military orders. Their neighbour's house was bombed, so Alaa, heavily pregnant with her girls and her family fled. She said: 'We ran in silence. I held my stomach with both hands and prayed my babies wouldn't slip away while I escaped death.' Alaa and her family found shelter in an overcrowded school building. Inside, there was hardly any food, no clean water and no medical care and she became increasingly malnourished, her hemoglobin plummeting to dangerously low levels. Despite the horrors, an Islamic Relief project to provide pregnant women with maternal care delivered the triplet girls – all born underweight but alive. Now their mother says: 'They are my miracle. My proof that even in war, life insists on being born.' During one of the checkups, doctors told Alaa she needed an emergency caesarean section. Alaa and her family couldn't afford it so Islamic Relief covered the costs, as well as the cost of the emergency blood transfusions. She says, 'I lost a lot of blood. I could feel myself fading. But I heard a cry from one of my daughters. That cry brought me back. Without this project I wouldn't be here, and neither would they. This wasn't just a medical intervention, it was a rescue mission for four lives.' The triplets, born in April were premature and underweight at 3.9lbs. They are now relatively healthy but remain at risk from the dangers that face all babies and children in Gaza. Alaa has received regular check-ups, blood tests, vitamins and ultrasound scans at Al Awda hospital, where Islamic Relief has previously provided vital equipment such as incubators that are still being used now. New incubators are among the many medical supplies that are now effectively banned under the Israeli blockade – as well as other vital maternal care equipment such as ultrasound devices and oxygen pumps, and fuel to keep hospital services running. Most pregnant women in Gaza are now unable to get any pre- or post-natal checks. Medics at hospitals like Al Awda are risking their lives to keep services going. The Israeli onslaught has killed more than 1500 health workers and forced two thirds of primary healthcare centres and half of all hospitals to completely shut down. The rest struggle to keep even partial services functioning. Al Awda has been besieged and hit by Israeli bombs dozens of times, injuring staff and patients and destroying medical supplies and storage facilities. Alaa says that despite the extreme challenges she was treated with care and dignity. She says: 'The medics didn't just ask about my babies, they cared about me. They reminded me that my life matters too.' Child malnutrition is rocketing, with Israel accused of allowing the starvation, blocking humanitarian aid. Meat, fruit, eggs and dairy products are near-impossible to find, while the scarcity of vegetables means that prices are up to 15 times more expensive than before the crisis, at a time when few people have jobs or access to cash. Israeli attacks have destroyed Gaza's ability to feed itself, with most agricultural land, greenhouses and fishing boats destroyed and most cattle killed. This has left all civilians in Gaza reliant on humanitarian aid, but hardly any has been allowed to enter since 2 March. A recent survey of 43 aid agencies in Gaza found that 95% have been forced to reduce or suspend activities due to the total closure and the relentless indiscriminate bombing that has killed thousands and targeted hospitals and shelters. The Israeli assault on Hamas followed the appalling slaughter of almost 1,200 when Hamas broke out of the Palestinian Strip, along with Islamic Jihad gunmen and went on a killing spree in southern Israel October 7 2023. During the atrocity that shocked the world they kidnapped 251 people, at least 51 of them still held in the Strip although only 20 are believed still to be alive. Now Israel and Hamas are negotiating a shaky 60 day ceasefire, although it is thought that proposal is not imminently going to be settled. And Israel is under increasing pressure to stop the war as Gaza is under threat of famine with more than 100 people now dead from starvation, according to reports. Hundreds of thousands of families are now forced into just 12% of Gaza's territory, with children at greatest risk as diseases spread amid the overcrowding. Israel's assault and blockade have turned Gaza into the worst place in the world to give birth. Dozens of babies and infants have starved to death. Pregnant women are now too malnourished to stand, and even doctors are facing starvation. The Israeli blockade has cut off essential supplies, forcing pregnant women to undergo operations without anaesthetics. Nurses have to squeeze three or four babies into a single incubator. Doctors also report a huge increase in miscarriages. As many as 28 children are now dying every day they claim.
Al-Ahram Weekly
03-07-2025
- Sport
- Al-Ahram Weekly
Former Ahly keeper Hamza Alaa joins Portuguese 2nd-tier club Portimonense - Talents Abroad
Portuguese second-tier club Portimonense have signed former Ahly goalkeeper Hamza Alaa on a free transfer, the Algarve side said on Thursday. The 23-year-old Egypt international penned a two-year deal to June 2027 after leaving Cairo giants Ahly when his contract expired at the end of last season. 'I'm here to help and I'll give my utmost to achieve Portimonense's goals,' Alaa told the club's website after completing the move. Portimonense, relegated from the Primeira Liga in May, announced Alaa as one of four close-season recruits as they seek an immediate return to the top flight. Alaa was Egypt's first-choice keeper at Paris Olympics, where the Pharaohs finished fourth. He played primarily as a back-up at Ahly but featured in domestic cup matches during the club's treble-winning 2023-24 campaign. (For more sports news and updates, follow Ahram Online Sports on Twitter at @AO_Sports and on Facebook at AhramOnlineSports.) Follow us on: Facebook Instagram Whatsapp Short link:
Al-Ahram Weekly
03-07-2025
- Sport
- Al-Ahram Weekly
Former Ahly keeper Hamza Alaa joins Portuguee second-tier club Portimonense - Talents Abroad
Portuguese second-tier club Portimonense have signed former Ahly goalkeeper Hamza Alaa on a free transfer, the Algarve side said on Thursday. The 23-year-old Egypt international penned a two-year deal to June 2027 after leaving Cairo giants Ahly when his contract expired at the end of last season. 'I'm here to help and I'll give my utmost to achieve Portimonense's goals,' Alaa told the club's website after completing the move. Portimonense, relegated from the Primeira Liga in May, announced Alaa as one of four close-season recruits as they seek an immediate return to the top flight. Alaa was Egypt's first-choice keeper at Paris Olympics, where the Pharaohs finished fourth. He played primarily as a back-up at Ahly but featured in domestic cup matches during the club's treble-winning 2023-24 campaign. (For more sports news and updates, follow Ahram Online Sports on Twitter at @AO_Sports and on Facebook at AhramOnlineSports.) Follow us on: Facebook Instagram Whatsapp Short link:
Kuwait Times
28-06-2025
- Kuwait Times
The worst nightmare: Relatives recall Gaza strike that devastated family
The worst nightmare: Relatives recall Gaza strike that devastated family 'Death is sometimes kinder than this torture' GAZA CITY: Alaa Al-Najjar was tending to wounded children at a hospital in the southern Gaza Strip when the news came through: the home where her own 10 children were staying had been bombed in a Zionist air strike. The pediatrician, with no means of transport, ran from the Nasser Hospital to the family house in the city of Khan Yunis, a relative told AFP, only to be met with every parent's worst nightmare. 'When she saw the charred bodies, she started screaming and crying,' said Ali Al-Najjar, the brother of Alaa's husband. Nine of her children were killed, their bodies burned beyond recognition, according to relatives. The tenth, 10-year-old Adam, survived the strike but remains in critical condition, as does his father, Hamdi Al-Najjar, also a doctor, who was also at home when the strike hit. Both are in intensive care at Nasser Hospital. When the body of her daughter Nibal was pulled from the rubble, Alaa screamed her name, her brother-in-law recounted. The following day, under a tent set up near the destroyed home, the well-respected pediatric specialist sat in stunned silence, still in shock. Around her, women wept as the sounds of explosions echoed across the Palestinian territory, battered by more than a year and a half of war. The air strike on Friday afternoon was carried out without warning, relatives said. Asked about the incident, the Zionist entity military said it had 'struck a number of suspects who were identified operating from a structure' near its troops, adding that claims of civilian harm were under review. 'I couldn't recognize the children in the shrouds,' Alaa's sister, Sahar al-Najjar, said through tears. 'Their features were gone.' 'It's a huge loss. Alaa is broken,' said Mohammed, another close family member. According to medical sources, Hamdi Al-Najjar underwent several operations at the Jordanian field hospital. Doctors had to remove a large portion of his right lung and gave him 17 blood transfusions. Adam had his arm severely wounded and suffers from severe burns across his body. 'I found my brother's house like a broken biscuit, reduced to ruins, and my loved ones were underneath,' Ali Al-Najjar said, recalling how he dug through the rubble with his bare hands alongside paramedics to recover the children's bodies. Now, he dreads the moment his brother regains consciousness. 'I don't know how to tell him. Should I tell him his children are dead? I buried them in two graves.' 'There is no safe place in Gaza,' he added with a weary sigh. 'Death is sometimes kinder than this torture.' — AFP
Observer
26-06-2025
- Health
- Observer
'Death is sometimes kinder': Relatives recount Gaza strike that devastated family
GAZA CITY: Alaa al Najjar was tending to wounded children at a hospital in the southern Gaza Strip when the news came through: the home where her own 10 children were staying had been bombed in an Israeli air strike. The paediatrician, with no means of transport, ran from the Nasser Hospital to the family house in the city of Khan Yunis, a relative said, only to be met with every parent's worst nightmare. "When she saw the charred bodies, she started screaming and crying," said Ali al Najjar, the brother of Alaa's husband. Nine of her children were killed, their bodies burned beyond recognition, according to relatives. The tenth, 10-year-old Adam, survived the strike but remains in critical condition, as does his father, Hamdi al Najjar, also a doctor, who was also at home when the strike hit. Both are in intensive care at Nasser Hospital. When the body of her daughter Nibal was pulled from the rubble, Alaa screamed her name, her brother-in-law recounted. The following day, under a tent set up near the destroyed home, the well-respected paediatric specialist sat in stunned silence, still in shock. Around her, women wept as the sounds of explosions echoed across the Palestinian territory, battered by more than a year and a half of war. The air strike on Friday afternoon was carried out without warning, relatives said. Asked about the incident, the Israeli military said it had "struck a number of suspects who were identified operating from a structure" near its troops, adding that claims of civilian harm were under review. "I couldn't recognise the children in the shrouds," Alaa's sister, Sahar al Najjar, said through tears. "Their features were gone." "It's a huge loss. Alaa is broken," said Mohammed, another close family member. According to medical sources, Hamdi al Najjar underwent several operations at the Jordanian field hospital. Doctors had to remove a large portion of his right lung and gave him 17 blood transfusions. Adam had his arm severely wounded and suffers from severe burns across his body. "I found my brother's house like a broken biscuit, reduced to ruins, and my loved ones were underneath," Ali al Najjar said, recalling how he dug through the rubble with his bare hands alongside paramedics to recover the children's bodies. Now, he dreads the moment his brother regains consciousness. "I don't know how to tell him. Should I tell him his children are dead? I buried them in two graves." "There is no safe place in Gaza," he added with a weary sigh. "Death is sometimes kinder than this torture." - AFP
