With Israel cutting access to clean water, food, and essential medical supplies, 120,000 pregnant women in Gaza are enduring a heart-breaking situation.

According to a report by United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), around 160 women give birth every day amid the chaos and fighting, while an estimated 45 women are said to have died with babies still living in their wombs.

A Palestinian woman comforts her children, who were wounded along with her in an Israeli strike, at the Shifa hospital in Gaza City. — Reuters
A Palestinian woman comforts her children, who were wounded along with her in an Israeli strike, at the Shifa hospital in Gaza City. — Reuters

“Every time there is bombing, I am terrified. My legs are paralysed, I can’t walk, I can’t move, especially since I have children and I need to get up to run so that they stay safe. I fear for them and my unborn child,” a Gazan woman on condition of anonymity told UNFPA.

“I am due this month, and I sleep on streets. My chest hurts, I have a runny nose and cough. There is no water at all. We try to wash our food, but the water is not clean. The most pressing issue right now is to clean the toilets,” she added.

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