Forced to flee her home by Israeli bombardment, Asmaa Ahmed gave birth in the middle of the night in a Gaza City school that had no electricity, AFP reports.

The doctor arrived just in time, working by the light of a mobile phone and clamping the umbilical cord with whatever medical staff could find.

“I was very, very afraid to lose the baby,” 31-year-old Ahmed told AFP, recounting how her son Faraj came into the world four months ago.

Baraa Jaber, the nurse who assisted in the delivery, said she was scared too.

“It was very late and at this time the occupation (Israel) could bomb anyone moving in the streets,” she said.

New mothers confront the stark challenge of keeping infants alive in the besieged territory bereft of basics like food and water, to say nothing of heated tables for neonates and incubators.

The fast-deteriorating conditions have struck fear into the hearts of pregnant women like 21-year-old Malak Shabat, who has sought refuge in the southern Gaza city of Rafah after moving several times to escape Israeli air strikes.

“I’m so afraid of giving birth,” said Shabat, whose due date is fast approaching.