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Amid the Gaza war and the horrors of conflict, a remarkable event unfolded involving Makkah.
On a fateful Saturday, Dareen, a 28-year-old woman in the late stages of her third pregnancy, was hanging laundry on her balcony in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip. Tragedy struck as an Israeli airstrike hit her building, causing her to fall from the third floor to the apartment below.
Her husband, Ayman Abu Shamalah, barely survived the same airstrike and rushed down to find Dareen lying on the floor, severely injured and disfigured by the explosion. In her final moments, she implored him, saying, “Ayman, take Makkah out of my belly and take care of her.”
At the Abu Yousef Al Najjar hospital, Ayman desperately pleaded with doctors to save the baby, emphasizing that it was Dareen’s dying wish. Medical professionals performed an emergency Caesarian section to safely deliver the newborn, who was immediately transferred to the pediatric unit at the Emirates Red Crescent hospital in Rafah.
Also Read: Urgent Relief Appeal for Humanitarian Crisis in Gaza, Donate Now
The family had sought refuge with relatives in Rafah after escaping the bombardments in Gaza City, but the building where they found shelter was also targeted by Israeli forces, resulting in the tragic loss of Dareen, their children, and other relatives.
On that fateful day, the shared birthday of three-year-old Adam and his nine-year-old sister, Sham, marked their tragic passing along with their mother. Their father narrowly escaped a similar fate, reflecting on the heartache of October 21, which became a day of sorrow for him every year.
The newborn baby, born under dire circumstances, was in critical condition and required immediate medical attention. However, her prognosis remained uncertain due to the period of oxygen deprivation she experienced between her mother’s passing and her birth.
By her incubator, Ayman Shamalah was overwhelmed with emotion as a doctor offered him solace. A name tag on the incubator bore the inscription: “Baby of the martyr Dareen Abu Shamalah,” with the date of birth listed as October 21, the same date that marked the births and tragic deaths of Ayman’s other two children and their mother.
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