A premature baby girl was saved from the womb of a Palestinian woman slain in an Israeli airstrike on their Gaza home that also killed the infant's father and 4-year-old sister, according to reports Sunday.
The victims were among 22 people — including 17 children and two women from one extended family — who died in overnight attacks on the city of Rafah, the Associated Press said.
The baby's mother, Sabreen al-Sakani, was 30 weeks pregnant and her baby was delivered by an emergency cesarean section at the Kuwaiti hospital in Rafah.
The tiny tot weighed just over 3 pounds and struggled to survive as medical workers gently pumped air into her open mouth and tapped on her chest.
She was put into an incubator in the neonatal intensive care unit wearing a diaper too big for her and the words "the baby of the martyr Sabreen al-Sakani" written on a piece of tape stuck to her chest.
Dr. Mohammed Salameh told Reuters said that she will likely remain hospitalized for up to a month.
"After that we will see about her leaving, and where this child will go, to the family, to the aunt or uncle or grandparents," he told Reuters. "Here is the biggest tragedy: even if this child survives, she was born an orphan."
The baby's older sister, Malak, had wanted to name her Rouh, the Arabic word for "spirit," her uncle, Rami al-Sheikh, told Reuters.
"The little girl Malak was happy that her sister was coming to the world," he said.
The baby was named Sabreen Jouda, according to AP.
An Israeli military spokesperson said various militant targets were struck during the overnight airstrikes, including military compounds, launch posts and people carrying weapons, according to Reuters.
More than half of Gaza's 2.3 million residents are seeking shelter in Rafah from the war that began when Hamas militants attacked Israel on Oct. 7, killing about 1,200 people and kidnapping 253, according to Israeli figures.
Palestinian health officials have said more than 34,000 people have been killed in Gaza, the majority of them women and children.
Israel says 13,000 were militant fighters.
Israel has threatened a ground invasion of Rafah but U.S. President Joe Biden has urged against it to avoid killing more Palestinian civilians.
