Doctors performed a successful emergency caesarean on a premature baby in Rafah following bombardments by the Israeli Defense on Saturday night.
The air strikes on her family home killed the mother, Sabreen al-Sakani, who was 30 weeks pregnant. Her husband, Shoukri, and their three-year-old daughter, Malak were also killed in the air strike.
After the operation, medics said the baby was born in respiratory distress. Mohammad Salama, the head of the unit said the baby would need to stay in intensive care for a month.
Palestinian health officials said 19 people, most of them children, were killed in Israeli strikes on the city that night.
The IDF (Israeli Defense Force) issued this statement: “At the given times, the IDF struck several military targets of the terrorist organisations in Gaza including military compounds, launch posts and armed terrorists.”
The territory’s health ministry said at least two-thirds of the more than 34,000 Palestinians killed in Gaza since the war began have been children and women.
Israel insists on a ground offensive into the area, where the prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu said fighters from the resistance group Hamas must be neutralised to ensure Israel’s victory in the war.