Odyssey Iman Al-Masry

the Iman Al-Masry She's exhausted. Next to her, on an old, used mattress, three of her four premature babies sleep. After a tiring trip south Gaza stripThe young woman gave birth via cesarean section to quadruplets.

Mother and newborns, S Yasserthe Tia And the flexiblethey live in a school classroom in Deir Al-BalashIn the middle of the Gaza Strip, surrounded by 50 members of their extended family. Fourth child ya MohammedHe is undergoing medical observation in a hospital in Nuseirat camp, seven kilometers to the north.

Like 1.9 million displaced Palestinians, Iman al-Masri was forced to flee to escape fighting between the Israeli army and Hamas. She left her home in Beit HanounIn the north on the fifth day of the war, believing that he would return soon.

“I just brought some summer clothes for the children. I thought the war would last a week or two and then we would go home,” says the 29-year-old mother. She was six months pregnant when she set out on foot with her three other young children to go to Jambalia camp. For refugees, 5 kilometers from her home. There he found a means of transportation to reach Deir al-Balah. “The distance tired me and affected my pregnancy. I went to the doctor and he said there were signs of premature labor. They gave me injections to stabilize my condition.”

After eight months of pregnancy, doctors decided she couldn't wait any longer. She gave birth by Caesarean section to quadruplets on December 18, in the middle of the war. He didn't even have time to recover. Due to the lack of hospital beds, he had to leaveShe left behind her baby, Muhammad, who needs medical care. “His condition is unstable. He weighs only one kilogram. He may not survive. Thank God, the other three children are healthy,” Iman said.

The 29-year-old has not seen Mohammed again since his birth. She explained: “I'm worried about him, but the road to visit him is dangerous.” Her husband's friend, who lives in Nuseirat, goes and sees the child.

Her dream of the big celebration she was going to organize for the birth of her children was shattered by the war. Imagine that he would coexist with rose water “as is our custom.” But ten days after their birth, he couldn't even bathe them. Because she does not eat well, she does not have enough milk to feed her children. He doesn't even have enough diapers. “I use it sparingly. Normally I have to change it every two hours, but the situation is difficult, as I only change it in the morning and evening.”

Her husband, Ammar Al-Masry, says that he does not know what to do to comfort his family. “I feel helpless,” the 33-year-old father admits. She said: “I fear for my children's lives, and I do not know how to protect them.”

One of his premature babies, Tia, suffers from jaundice and doctors fear she may have neurological problems. “She needs breastfeeding to improve her condition and my wife needs protein food but I cannot give it to her. My children need milk and diapers,” the father explained. Ammar spends his days outside, trying to find “anything” to feed his children, and at the same time, not Facing their gaze “so he doesn't feel guilty.”

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