Watan-The Palestinian woman, Shaima Suhail Abu Jazar, survived the Israeli war on Gaza but lost three of her children: Muhammad, Jinan, and Abdullah, who was stillborn and remained in her arms for only four minutes before medical staff took him for burial, according to her testimony to Human Rights Watch. She also lost her husband, Abdullah. Only her son Hudhaifa and daughter Maryam survived with her.
Shaima recounts her story from a hospital in Qatar, where she is receiving treatment. Despite the nightmare she endured, she tries to gather strength and hope to raise her surviving son and daughter. She describes how a shell penetrated her leg while she was pregnant and how she survived miraculously. However, the suffering did not end with surviving death.
Shaima’s testimony is one of several highlighted in a 50-page report by Human Rights Watch titled “Five Babies in One Incubator: Violations of Pregnant Women’s Rights During the Israeli Assault on Gaza.” The report features harrowing accounts from women in Gaza, detailing their suffering and the consequences of war on their bodies and lives. It highlights the dangers faced by pregnant Palestinian women, not only due to bombs and shelling but also because of starvation, malnutrition, and the blockade.
The report focuses on the Israeli blockade of Gaza and the attacks on healthcare facilities in the region, describing their impact as severe. It states that these actions “sometimes threaten the lives of women during pregnancy, childbirth, and postpartum.” The report concludes that the illegal blockade imposed by Israeli forces on Gaza, the severe restrictions on humanitarian aid, and the attacks on medical facilities and healthcare workers have directly harmed women during pregnancy, childbirth, and postpartum. Human Rights Watch calls attention to Israel’s responsibility as an occupying power, citing its violation of the “right to the highest attainable standard of health” and other rights of pregnant women, including dignified and respectful maternal and neonatal care.
Belkis Wille, associate director of the Crisis and Conflict Division at Human Rights Watch, notes that “since the start of hostilities in Gaza, women and girls have faced pregnancies without access to basic healthcare, sanitation, water, and food, making them and their newborns constantly vulnerable to preventable deaths.” She adds, “The repeated and flagrant violations of international humanitarian and human rights law by Israeli authorities in Gaza have a particularly harsh impact on pregnant women and newborns. A ceasefire alone will not end these appalling conditions. Governments must pressure Israel to urgently meet the needs of pregnant women, newborns, and others requiring medical care.”
The report is based on interviews with 17 individuals conducted between June and December 2024, including eight pregnant Palestinian women and healthcare workers from international humanitarian organizations operating in Gaza.
The report highlights that emergency obstetric and neonatal services are available, though limited, in only 7 out of 18 partially functioning hospitals across Gaza, 4 out of 11 field hospitals, and one health center. The quality of care provided by the few remaining medical facilities in Gaza has significantly deteriorated, leading, in many cases, to women being discharged from overcrowded hospitals hastily, sometimes just hours after giving birth, to make room for other patients, many of whom are war-injured. Hospitals and health facilities operate in unsanitary conditions with severe shortages of essential medical supplies, including medications and vaccines.
For decades, successive Israeli governments have opposed the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) and its critical role in providing services and safeguarding Palestinian refugees’ rights guaranteed by UN resolutions and international law, including Resolution 194.
In October 2024, the Israeli Knesset passed two bills, effective as of this Tuesday, threatening UNRWA’s operations and banning its activities across the occupied Palestinian territories, including Gaza. Notably, UNRWA provides essential health, education, and other services to Palestinian refugees, employing around 13,000 workers in Gaza alone, most of whom are Palestinians. Israeli attacks have killed over 260 UN workers in Gaza, most of whom were UNRWA employees.
Human Rights Watch warns that banning UNRWA’s operations “will exacerbate harm to maternal and neonatal health.” The new laws prohibit UNRWA from working in occupied East Jerusalem and bar the government from engaging with the agency, making it impossible for UNRWA to deliver aid to the West Bank or Gaza or obtain permits or visas for its staff. UNRWA provides water, food, shelter, and other critical services to hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in Gaza, including pregnant women, nursing mothers, and newborns. Any access to Gaza, the West Bank, or East Jerusalem depends on Israeli approval since these areas are under its control or occupation.
The Human Rights Watch report emphasizes the genocidal war Israel waged on Palestinians in Gaza, resulting in over 50,000 deaths, with women and children making up 70% of the fatalities. Thousands more are believed to be trapped under the rubble, in addition to the injured. The war has caused “the forced displacement of more than 90% of Gaza’s population, 1.9 million Palestinians, some of whom have been displaced multiple times.” The report notes that in most cases, it was impossible to inform women where they could access health services safely, and women struggled to reach the few available services in time. Women and newborns received virtually no follow-up medical care or postpartum services.
The report highlights the lack of data on newborn survival rates or the number of women who suffered severe illnesses or died during pregnancy, childbirth, or postpartum due to harsh conditions. However, it references various studies, including one from July 2024, which found that “the miscarriage rate in Gaza increased by up to 300% since October 7, 2023.”
UNICEF documented that, as of December 26, 2024, eight infants had died from hypothermia due to inadequate shelter. The report includes a testimony from a doctor at a maternity hospital in Rafah, who noted that the limited number of incubators and the large number of premature babies force them to place four or five babies in a single incubator, most of whom do not survive.
The illegal Israeli blockade of Gaza and the use of starvation as a weapon of war have led to acute food insecurity for most people. Pregnant women face enormous challenges in maintaining proper nutrition, essential for their health and fetal development. The report cites another study showing that Israel’s deliberate deprivation of Palestinians’ access to water constitutes a crime against humanity and an act of genocide.
Pregnant women reported experiencing dehydration or an inability to bathe, leading to numerous health complications, including anemia, preeclampsia, bleeding, and sepsis, all of which can be fatal without proper medical treatment. The report highlights Israel’s severe restrictions on evacuating pregnant women from Gaza, as is the case for most Palestinian patients and the injured, despite international human rights law guaranteeing civilians the right to leave their country for medical reasons and the right to return.
Human Rights Watch reiterates that the Israeli government, as the occupying power in Gaza, is obligated under international humanitarian law to ensure the civilian population’s access to food, water, and medical supplies to the fullest extent of its resources. International law also mandates the free passage of shipments containing medical supplies, hospital equipment, food, and essential goods for children under 15 and pregnant or postpartum women.
The organization calls on the international community, including Israel’s allies such as the United States, to take all measures to end Israel’s grave violations. Governments should halt military aid, review and potentially suspend bilateral agreements, such as the EU-Israel Partnership Agreement (as proposed by Spain and Ireland) and the U.S.-Israel Free Trade Agreement, and support the International Criminal Court and other accountability efforts.
Additionally, the organization urges governments to continue supporting UNRWA’s efforts in Gaza, including providing resources for sexual and reproductive health services. They must also press Israel to ensure unrestricted access for specialists in sexual, reproductive, and mental health to Gaza.
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