
Fukhari, Gaza Strip – A rhythmic beep accompanies the mechanical ventilator as it breathes oxygen into a premature baby’s lungs. The thin tube stretching from an oxygen tank pumps life into her fragile body, as a monitor tracks the feeble thump of her heart.
Talia was born on October 6, one day before the outbreak of Israel’s latest war on the Gaza Strip, following a Hamas attack on southern Israel. Her skin has since lost the bluish tinge that had raised alarm among medics at the Nasser Medical Hospital in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, but her lungs are not strong enough yet to function on their own.