TEL AVIV — Five-month-old Reem Jehad Abou Haya is hungry. Unaware that her mother is gone, she reaches for the milk that will never come. Reem is the sole survivor of an airstrike that wiped out her entire family in the Gaza Strip city of Khan Younis on August 12.
Pulled from the rubble of what was once her home, Reem’s survival is a bittersweet miracle. The airstrike claimed the lives of her parents, siblings, and cousins—13 family members in total, according to her grandmother, Sayaeda Mohamed Husein Abou Haya.
“They were eating dinner when a missile hit them, leaving no one alive,” Sayaeda said as Reem, bandaged and scarred, cried in her lap. “No one but the baby.”
An aunt tried to console Reem, offering her a bottle, but the infant refused the formula, continuing to cry.
“The entire house collapsed on them,” said Soaad Hosni Abou Haya, another of Reem’s aunts. “Their bodies were unrecognizable—just pieces, just meat.”
Now, it will take a community to raise Reem, but her situation is far from unique. According to UNICEF, around 17,000 children in Gaza have been separated from their parents or are unaccompanied since the war began.
A recent report from the International Rescue Committee (IRC) suggests that the number of separated children could be even higher. The report warns that ongoing violence, displacements, arrests, and fatalities have significantly increased the risk of family separation.
Some children have been found living alone in hospitals. Caregivers and professionals report that children in Gaza are showing signs of trauma, clinging to others during loud noises, wetting the bed, and experiencing nightmares.
The long-term effects of this trauma could be severe. The IRC report warns that ongoing stress from violence and displacement could lead to lasting health and developmental issues for children.
As of Thursday, local health officials reported that more than 40,000 people, including thousands of children, have been killed in Israel’s ongoing military offensive in Gaza. The Gaza Health Ministry stated that at least 115 newborns have died since the conflict began.
On the same day that Reem lost her family, newborn twins and their mother were killed in another airstrike while the father was out collecting their birth certificates.
These strikes followed a weekend of intense violence, including an attack on a school-turned-shelter in Gaza City by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), which resulted in the deaths of at least 100 people.
Doctors at Nasser Hospital examined Reem and found her injuries to be superficial. However, they are concerned about her condition if she doesn’t start drinking soon, as dehydration is a serious risk.
“She’s searching for her mother,” said Dr. Ahmad Alfra, who has witnessed countless tragedies during the conflict. He described Reem’s situation as “one of the most catastrophic stories we have ever seen in this war.”
Dr. Alfra asked Reem’s aunt to find a lactating mother who could feed her, hoping that she would accept another woman’s milk.
When NBC News contacted the IDF for comment, they did not address the specific incident but stated that they were “operating to dismantle Hamas military and administrative capabilities.”
Reem’s aunt, Soaad Hosni Abou Haya, is prepared to take on the responsibility of raising her. “She is not the first child in Gaza to live without parents. She will live as an orphan, like many others. She is not the first and won’t be the last.”
As for Reem’s future, Soaad believes it will be tied to the fate of Gaza’s children. But first, Reem must eat.
